


Persona: World of Twilight

by Girlinatophat



Category: Original Work, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Original Non-Binary Character - Freeform, Original Trans Character - Freeform, Originally Posted on Wattpad, Same universe, literally only Igor appears for obvious reasons, new characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 42,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22087804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girlinatophat/pseuds/Girlinatophat
Summary: Ebizo Niikura was living a normal student life until a bizarre event caused his life to turn upside down. With his new Persona, a manifestation of one's soul, Ebizo and his new friends investigate a range of mysterious happenings in his small town. As the incidents begin to get worse and worse, Ebizo and his friends realise they need to put a stop to them once and for all, even if that means going deep into the mysterious Realm of Twilight that's on the other side of the mirror...
Kudos: 4





	1. His Genesis

_"Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time."_

_\- Deborah Chaskin ___

__—_ _

__Dreaming. A series of thoughts, images and sensations occurring on one's mind as they sleep. At times, it is impossible to tell if one is dreaming or not._ _

__Ebizo Niikura was certain that he was dreaming when he saw a blue butterfly flap by. The butterfly left a trail of dust, akin to a magical creature. It landed on Ebizo's finger before disappearing into thin air._ _

__Looking up, he saw a clocktower form around him, covered in blue velvet. He had never seen a blue, velvet clocktower before, but he was willing to believe in it for a moment._ _

__There was a sense of familiarity about this place, too. He felt warm. Safe. Happy. A place where he could finally be alone with his thoughts._ _

__A blurry figure walked towards him. Once he could focus on them, he noticed that everything about them was just as odd as the room around him._ _

__The figure was masculine - that much he could tell for sure. His clothing was entirely blue, matching the room. If that wasn't weird enough, his hair was platinum blond and his eyes were a stark yellow. Ebizo had never seen anyone like him before._ _

__He held up a clipboard and handed it to Ebizo. His mouth was moving, saying something unknown to Ebizo._ _

__Ebizo had a feeling that he should write his name. He did so, picking up the pen on the clipboard with care._ _

__Once he finished writing his name, the clipboard vanished into thin air. He looked up and saw that the figure had vanished, too. The floor beneath him turned to bubbles, and-_ _

__"Sweetie, wake up! It's time for school!"_ _

__——_ _

__Ebizo woke up to his mother standing over him. She had set out his school uniform on his bed, hoping that it would wake him up._ _

__His mother, Suzue, was already dressed. Somehow. Her green eyes were looking at Ebizo expectingly for him to get up._ _

__"Come on! First day back," she reminded him, "You don't want to be late!"_ _

__He begrudgingly got himself out of bed, already missing his regular ripped jeans. "Has Kinuya and dad left yet?" he asked her._ _

__"No and yes," Suzue began to explain, heading for the door. "Your father had to be called in early today... and Kinuya is just getting ready to go soon, dear. Apparently, her little friends want to go grab a coffee before school starts! Now, I told her she can't be late for-"_ _

__Ebizo drowned out his mother's droning once he heard that his father had left without a word. Ever since he had been promoted, his police work felt a constant need to pull him away. It wasn't even eight in the morning yet, and his father was supposed to have the day off._ _

__"Get changed and come downstairs for breakfast. We can't have you missing out on the most important meal of the day!" Suzue chimed. She disappeared downstairs soon after._ _

__He stared at his clothes and began to get dressed. His morning routine was boring, to say the least. In truth, he didn't tend to think much when doing it. He just let his brain go on auto-pilot._ _

__When he finally made his way downstairs, his younger brother, Tasuku, was already trying to grab his mother's attention. It was his first day of elementary school. Naturally, he wasn't used to the idea of timings at all._ _

__"Sorry, sweetie!" Suzue cried as she picked up Tasuku's shoes. It seemed as if he was being a pain today. "Will you be alright to walk? Tasuku wants his mommy to drive him to his first day in big boy school!"_ _

__Ebizo shook his head. "I'll be fine, mom. Tasuku, don't try too hard, alright? You'll have to find the energy to play later," he said, rubbing his hand through Tasuku's black hair. Now that he wasn't crying in the middle of the night, Ebizo didn't mind being the middle child as much._ _

__"I won't, Ebizo!" Tasuku replied, stuffing a large spoonful of sugary cereal into his mouth. "I'll try to make lots of friends, too. Just like my big bro!"_ _

__He cracked a smile at his brother's antics. His innocence tended to lift the spirits of everyone in the room, even his sister's, Kinuya. Tasuku was definitely not babied by their mother in any way, as Suzue often liked to claim._ _

__Suzue handed Ebizo a lunchbox and pointed towards the door. "Your sister left this here. Quickly run out and give it to her, will you? She's been forgetting her food a lot, lately... whereas Tasuku won't stop eating!" she giggled, attempting to lure the conversation away from Kinuya's food habits._ _

__Nodding, Ebizo grabbed his pre-packed schoolbag. Suzue gave him a kiss for good luck before he could escape the house. Even at seventeen, she hasn't stopped doing that every day before he left the house. Tasuku laughed each and every time this happened._ _

__He bolted out and waved Kinuya down. "Hey, wait! You forgot the lunch mom made for you!" he gasped for breath, stopping on the edge of the sidewalk. "Why are you leaving so early, anyway?"_ _

__Kinuya turned around, her dyed blonde hair being blown back by the wind. "I'm meeting up with Chieko and the girls! Didn't mom tell you?" she huffed, snatching the lunch up. "Besides, I was gonna grab lunch at school..."_ _

__"You don't have any money," Ebizo noted, tilting his head. "Was Chieko going to offer to buy you lunch?"_ _

__She bit her lip. Ebizo guessed it was from the pressure, and not from the fact that she was wearing a very short and skimpy cheerleading outfit in the wind. "Well... that's none of your business! Get to school, already!" she cried, storming away from him._ _

__Ebizo sighed at her antics. Ever since she joined the cheerleading squad, her personality flipped completely. She even dyed her hair to match her natural blue eyes, because 'black hair and blue eyes don't go' according to her._ _

__He looked at his watch and began to walk to school. It was the beginning of the day, and he already had a bad feeling about it._ _

__——_ _

__When Ebizo arrived at school, he headed straight for his new homeroom. He wanted to ensure that his new friends were also in his homeroom, first of all. Last year, the majority of his close friends had moved on and went to college and such. It was a fault for relying on your mother for friends, when the only parents she knew were older kids._ _

__As soon as he walked in, he heard a boy cry out his name. It was oddly high pitched for a seventeen year old. Immediately, he knew the owner of said voice._ _

__It was a boy that was in his homeroom last year - Koichi Ichizou. He was infamous throughout the school, mostly because of his traits matching a toddler's than a teenager's. His mother had even phoned in to ask if he could be excused from the dress code, just so he could wear a sweater she knitted for him. If he wasn't talking, he was definitely sucking on the pacifier tied around his neck._ _

__"Looks like we're in the same class again, Ebizo!" Koichi exclaimed, bouncing up and down on his chair. "What are the odds?"_ _

__Ebizo took a seat next to Koichi. Maybe this year would be the year that he finally grew out of his baby habits. He could hope._ _

__"This is Akoto," Koichi continued, gesturing to a black-haired girl behind them. "She's new here. So be nice to her, okay?"_ _

__"Nice to meet you," Ebizo smiled as he nodded in Akoto's direction. "Did you move here recently? I haven't seen you around before..."_ _

__Akoto shook her head. "No, I've lived in Jansaai all my life. I was home schooled before, though... maybe that's why I haven't seen you before...?"_ _

__He couldn't help but frown. Even if Akoto was home schooled, Jansaai was a small town. Everyone knew each other, to some extent. Even Koichi didn't seem to know her, and he spent most of his time outside._ _

__"I ran into Akoto this morning," explained Koichi, "She was walking all alone, so my parents said that she could walk with us! She's gonna meet us everyday from now on-"_ _

__"I never actually agreed to that, Koichi," frowned Akoto, "But... it does sound nice. It certainly makes the walk to school more exciting..."_ _

__Koichi clapped his hands in excitement. He had already managed to make a friend sooner than Ebizo. It was definitely going to become a competition at some point, and Ebizo would be forced to participate._ _

__"Who's our homeroom teacher?" Akoto asked, leaning back against her chair. "Um... actually, you'd best describe them to me instead of just saying their name. I don't know anyone here, so-"_ _

__"I read on the board that it was Mr. Haraki," Ebizo glanced over at the door. He was running late. "He's, uh... he was off a lot last year. I'm surprised he's still got a job here."_ _

__"He's super nice, though!" chirped Koichi, "He got a lot softer once he had a kid. It's so sweet - he even keeps a photo album of his daughter on his desk!"_ _

__As Koichi was going over their new homeroom teacher, he arrived, fashionably late. His eyes were tired. But then again, this was the first day. Everyone's eyes were tired. His tie was a little disheveled too, but Ebizo let that slide._ _

__"Good morning, class," Mr. Haraki introduced himself, slumping down onto his chair. "I'll be your homeroom teacher for this year. I'm pretty relaxed, so just... respect me, and I'll respect you, okay?"_ _

__There was a murmur of agreement in the class. Akoto had a small smile on her face. Koichi was practically bouncing out of his seat._ _

__"Today is pretty simple," he continued, "We'll be going over what's expected of you this year and such. Normal classes will start tomorrow."_ _

__Ebizo spent the rest of the time drowning out what he was saying. His stomach was practically demanding a buffet by the time lunch had rolled around._ _

__When the bell went, Ebizo waved goodbye to Koichi and Akoto. Apparently Koichi was going to show Akoto the school properly. He didn't want to tag along as the awkward third wheel, so he headed for his locker to grab some change_ _

__However, this was a school. School drama seemed to follow him everyday and everywhere. The drama for lunch was regarding the year's bully, an awful boy by the name of Shinsui. Ebizo had tried to avoid him last year, but something inside of him couldn't let him allow Shinsui to continue his harassment._ _

__For today, his target was a blonde haired girl that Ebizo had never seen before. She looked like she was of western descent, which made her stand out more than usual in a small town._ _

__Shinsui placed both of his arms besides the girl, trapping her. "You know, if you're going to move here from America, the least you could do is learn our language," he snarled at the girl, "Your Japanese is terrible! You might as well go back to elementary school, sweet cheeks."_ _

__The girl held her books close to her chest. She didn't say anything, instead preferring to stare off into the distance._ _

__Ebizo sighed and walked up to the two. "Hey, Shinsui, cut that out. She's learning, okay? It's really hard to learn a new language like that," he told him._ _

__Shinsui let go of the trapped girl and scoffed. "Get out of here, Ebizo. Why can't you just stay out of other people's business? It's what you were best at last year, wasn't it?"_ _

__"No," he shook his head, "You stay out of her business. She's new here, and she doesn't need you picking on her like this. Why don't you find your girlfriend or something? It looks like she's leaving you."_ _

__He looked over at a group of blonde girls and huffed. "It's because you ruined it! Now they need some more entertainment. Thanks a lot, Ebizo... I'll get you back for this," he glared at the two, storming away._ _

__The girl looked at Ebizo and smiled. "Thank you. It was very kind of you to do that for me... my, um, Japanese is okay. I promise!"_ _

__"It's okay," he held out his hand, "I'm Ebizo. Ebizo Niikura. You moved here from America, right? What's your name?"_ _

__"Aurora Lumiosa," the girl, Aurora, replied, shaking his hand. "You're the first boy that's asked for my name without trying to flirt with me... it's, um, refreshing."_ _

__Ebizo gestured to the canteen. "You hungry? Let's go get some food. You can meet my other friends, too. It's better than being alone."_ _

__Aurora nodded. "It is... ah, this would be my first time getting Japanese canteen food... point out the nice things for me, will you?"_ _

__The two of them smiled at each other and walked towards the canteen. Unknown to them at the time, it was this interaction that set off a chain of events that changed their lives forever.  
  



	2. Realm of Twilight

Ebizo and Aurora sat down at a table in the back. Luckily, Akoto and Ebizo claimed the table before anyone else could. As long as they stayed away from the cheerleader's centre table, they would be alright. As Ebizo had learned last year. 

The group began to eat as Akoto struck up a conversation. "Say, Jansaai is home to plenty of rumours, even if it is a small town," she smirked, "Aurora, did you ever hear about them? Is that why you moved here?"

Aurora shook her head. "W-We thought it was a quiet little mountain town... what rumours are you talking about?" she asked, putting a mouthful of ramen into her mouth. "They're not scary, are they?"

"My dad was a researcher, you see," began Akoto, "He believed that we sit on top of a rift between two dimensions. It's why we get so many small earthquakes, compared to other places in Japan. Years ago, he claimed that the rift opened... and someone entered the town."

Koichi squealed in fright. "I-I hate scary stories-! Can't we just have a happy one? Um... about trees, or something? Trees are peaceful!" he cried, placing his pacifier into his mouth. 

"So?" Ebizo smirked, a little curious about Akoto's story. Jansaai was the most boring place ever to him. Maybe this story could make it a little more exciting. "What's this dimension like?"

"He called it... the Realm of Twilight," Akoto continued, taking a bite out of her sushi. "After his favourite show, the Twilight Zone. It's like the show, you know? 'A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. The middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. It lies between the pit of one's fears and the summit of one's knowledge' or... something like that. I think he was just being nerdy." she shrugged.

"Speak Japanese, please," Aurora giggled, seemingly enjoying this. "I used to watch that show back in America... what exactly did the dimension look like, though?"

"Pitch black sky, a white and blue coloured moon... there's a story behind it, too," she explained, leaning back in her chair. "A goddess ruled it, giving her subjects a luxurious life... it's like a mirror dimension, in a way."

"It's just a story, though," Ebizo denied in an attempt to calm down a terrified Koichi. "Right? Like a... silly bedtime story."

"That's a relief," muttered Koichi, taking his pacifier out of his mouth to eat. "If it was real, I think I'd have a heart attack! I'd much rather stay here..."

"Still, rumours sometimes have some truth to them!" chimed Akoto, "I'm totally serious, you guys! I'll show you my father's research when I can find it..."

The group laughed at Akoto's antics, soon finishing their food. The rest of lunch went by without incident, thanks to the complete lack of Shinsui around. Ebizo and Aurora were both as thankful as each other.

When the last bell finally went, Ebizo stepped outside his homeroom (after waving goodbye to Akoto and Koichi, whom were both walking home together). Waiting outside for him was Aurora, her cheeks flaring red.

"E-Ebizo-!" she exclaimed, rushing towards him. "I, um... I'm sorry. I didn't have the guts to mention this at lunch, but... would it be alright if you walked me home? I have a feeling Shinsui is going to try and follow me home..."

Ebizo took her hand and nodded. "Of course I'll walk you home. That... I hate to say it, but it sounds like something he'd do. I don't want you to become his target for the year... besides, I know this town inside and out. I'll show you where to go."

"Thank you, Ebizo!" chirped Aurora, hugging his arm. "My house is near the park... there's a lot of strange things there, so it'll be helpful if you could tell me what they're meant to be..."

The two of them walked out of Yukiyinn High School, heading to Aurora's home. 

——

Ebizo had spent most of the journey acting as a tour guide for Aurora. He liked to think that he was an amazing tour guide, making his town seem like an interesting place. That wasn't a feat many could manage. 

They were almost through the park when he stopped at an abandoned shack. This was it. His key selling point at how interesting this town was.

"What's up with that?" Aurora asked, pointing to the shack. "It looks almost sad... and it's in the middle of such a nice park, too..."

"That's the best thing about this place!" grinned Ebizo, standing next to the shack. "There's a rumour that this place is haunted with the soul of the previous groundskeeper!"

"Oh, no! What happened?!" Aurora gasped dramatically, playing along. "Don't tell me... they're going to come back to kill us-!"

"Some kids chased her off into the river... never to be seen again!" Ebizo continued, striking his best dramatic pose. "They say that she haunts her shack, wanting revenge on every kid that visits... step inside, and she'll haunt your nightmares!"

Aurora giggled and stood next to the door. "So I just step inside of here, and she haunts me? Cool," she said, jumping inside the shack without a care in the world.

Ebizo ran in after her and yanked her arm. "U-Um, there's probably snakes in here or something-! It's not a good idea to-"

She shook her head and pointed to the doorway. "Th-That's not why I went in... I'm sorry, Ebizo, but..."

He whirled around to see Shinsui standing in the doorway, looking as cocky as ever. Even with Ebizo's guidance, he still managed to follow Aurora all the way here. Ebizo's heartbeat quickened.

"Well, well, it's the local brats," he said, smirking. "I said I'd get you back, especially after you embarrassed me in front of Chieko. It's a good thing we have this enclosed space to share, hmm? Makes it easier for beating the crap out of you."

Ebizo stood in front of Aurora protectively as Shinsui stepped inside. The shack felt a lot smaller than it did previously. He could've sworn that he was rocking slightly. 

He looked over at a nearby mirror and gasped. It was just for a split second, but he could've sworn that he saw a wolf in his reflection. He didn't have time to... reflect on it, though, as another interruption occurred.

This time, it wasn't Shinsui. The floor began to rattle underneath them, akin to an earthquake. The three of them leant onto the walls, attempting to stay upright.

"A-An earthquake-?! Now?!" Aurora trembled, trying to walk for the doorway. She reached her hand towards it, but once her fingers touched the doorway, she was blown backwards by an unknown force.

"Aurora-!" Ebizo yelled, turning his attention to her. He bent down next to her and helped her sit up. "Are you alright?"

Aurora nodded and pointed to the window. Her face was pure white. "L-Look... it's raining... it's... it's going up...!"

Shinsui sighed and headed for the doorway. "This is what I get for going along with you two-! If you'll excuse me, I'm going home!" he declared, immediately getting blasted back as he touched the doorway.

He hit a lamp and was knocked unconscious. Ebizo couldn't help but to smile at his lack of intelligence for once. But now wasn't the right time. The rain outside their window was, somehow, going up.

A flash of lightning occurred, and the two of them were temporarily blinded. When Ebizo opened his eyes, it was night. He was pretty sure that it was daytime a few seconds ago. 

Aurora rubbed her head and sat up. "Ah... wh-what... where are we?"

The two of them looked at the new area they were in. There was a shining moon in the dark sky, a colour of white and blue. Whilst there were remnants of structures, all of it had been torn down. It looked like the damage a hurricane would leave in the aftermath. They were definitely not in the same place they were before.

"It reminds me of what Akoto was talking about," he noted, "You know, the Realm of Twilight? Even the moon is the same. I... I don't care, but where is Shinsui? He was next to us a second ago."

She looked around to see if she could spot the missing bully. "Hey, you're right... he was unconscious. He couldn't have gone far." 

Ebizo grabbed Aurora's hand and pulled her up. "We'd best investigate... I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry. I'd rather not starve to death in this place."

"Yeah... me neither," she nodded, taking his hand. "Maybe we can find someone to talk to. This place looks like it was populated at some point... there might still be some remnants left out here."

They began to walk endlessly, the same scene looping around them. Neither of them seemed to notice at first. Ebizo's aching legs quickly reminded him that they had been walking for a while. 

"Wait!" Aurora yelled, yanking Ebizo's arm. He almost fell back in shock. "I see something moving! Over there!"

Sure enough, there was a rustling near a pile of rubble. They cautiously approached it, Ebizo holding out his fists. Thinking they were going to help. Somehow.

The rustling jumped out of them, making both of them fall over. It was... definitely a humanoid figure, a female one at that. Her face was hidden by her large hood, ears akin to a rabbit's. Most of her body shape was hidden by her cloak. Ebizo was sort of thankful for that.

"Wh-Who are you-?!" Aurora screamed, tears welling up in her eyes. "P-Please don't hurt us-! We're not here to cause trouble."

The girl(?) giggled and jumped about. "Silly!" she said in a high-pitched voice, "I don't wanna hurt you! I can tell that you're different from the others..."

"Um, others?" Ebizo croaked. He was close to having an... accident. "Wh-Who... uh, my name is Ebizo, and this is Aurora... what's your name?"

"Natsumi!" she yelled, jumping next to them. "Nice to meetcha! Are you two looking for something? I can help! I'm practically a tour guide around here..."

"Oh, good!" Aurora chuckled, standing up hesitantly. "Well, we came in here through, a, uh, shack. It was very scary. But we want to get back home. Not here. Home. A place called Jansaai."

"Jan... saaaaai?" Natsumi asked, tilting her head. "Um, I haven't been there before. Is it in Luethea?"

"L... Luethea?" Ebizo questioned back. He had never been so confused in his life. "We haven't heard of that, either..."

"No way!" gasped Natsumi, "But... oh, maybe you came along with that thing... it did get here at the same time you did..."

"What thing?" Aurora beamed, hoping to finally get somewhere. "Is it a shack? Please say it's a shack."

"Sort of," she began, "It's a big structure, guarded by the grow-ns-keeeeeee-per! She just got here, and she's already taken the whole place over... that's why nobody's around. They're all guarding her place."

Ebizo's face grew pale. Natsumi was definitely talking about the previous groundskeeper that used to inhabit that shack. Had she been brought back to life in this new world? 

"Take us there," he said immediately, "We have a... someone in there, too. Our best chance of getting back is to investigate that area, even if it means going after that dead groundskeeper..."

Natsumi didn't entirely get what Ebizo was going on about, but seemed overjoyed anyway. "Alright! I'll take you there! Make sure to keep up with me, in case you get lost... you'll be walking round in circles if not!"

Aurora nodded slowly. "Yes, I... I feel like we were doing that before we ran into you... at least we have a tour guide now...?"

Ebizo and Aurora looked at each other as they began to follow the energetic Natsumi. They still had many questions, but home and food came first.


	3. This Charming Persona

Natsumi guided the two to the groundskeeper's... shack? Place? Ebizo wasn't sure how to describe it. It was as if someone had taken the idea of a 'haunted shack' and turned it up to eleven.

The shack had turned more into a mansion, one that you'd see in horror movies. He could've sworn that he saw a ghost or two in the windows. It looked as if it was going to fall apart at any second.

Aurora looked at the place and smirked. "Hey, Ebizo... who ya gonna call?" she joked, pointing finger guns at him.

"Uh, the police, probably," responded Ebizo, not in the mood for spooky references. "Natsumi, we just have to... do what, exactly?"

Natsumi looked up at the structure and frowned. "Hmm... I don't think I can reason with these guys for you. They don't tend to listen to me, but if they have a master, then they definitely won't listen to me. This really hasn't happened before... so I won't be much help..."

"It's okay," Aurora reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Ebizo and I are just going to talk to this groundskeeper... can you come with us, in case you can convince your friends to be nice?"

"Okay!" Natsumi agreed, nodding excitedly. "They may look different at first, but they're still the same shadows as before! A new master always changes their appearance to their liking-"

Ebizo looked at Natsumi worryingly. The few concepts he managed to grasp about this place were slipping once again. "Erm. Shadows? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Huh? You guys don't know?" Natsumi asked them, tilting her head. "I thought you were shadows too, just like me... is this a joke? If you're not shadows, what are you, then?"

"H-Human beings, obviously-!" Aurora interjected, "What are shadows? What do you mean by that?"

Natsumi pointed to a ghost in front of them. By ghost, Ebizo was referring to the weird thing with a white blanket over it. Like a poor halloween costume.

It charged towards Ebizo and Aurora, throwing off the white blanket. Underneath, the... thing... was a woman with wings. Like a fairy, Ebizo thought. Maybe he was losing it.

"That's Pixie!" Natsumi cried, jumping up and down excitedly. "You guys can defend yourselves, right? You have some weapons?"

Aurora looked at her and shook her head. "Um... I-I suppose I could've borrowed a knife or too... what are we supposed to-"

Pixie extended out her hand towards Ebizo. "Zio!" they cried, a bolt of lightning shooting towards him.

Screaming, Ebizo threw himself to the ground to avoid it. "Natsumi, do something-!" he yelled, "Can't you stop... it?!"

She shook her head and sat down on the ground, watching them fight. "I'm not supposed to hurt them... my master says so. Plus, they're my friends!"

_"Heed me..." ___

__Ebizo whirled around. What the hell was that? Did someone just whisper to him?_ _

__"Ebizo!" Aurora said in between dodges, "D-Do something-! Don't just stand there! You'll get hit!"_ _

_"You who thirst for power... call my name. You've always known it."_

____

____He scratched his head before dodging another hit. They couldn't keep this up for long. Natsumi definitely wasn't going to help._ _ _ _

____

____As he crashed to the floor, Ebizo felt the bump of something hit his chest. He felt around in the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small pocket mirror._ _ _ _

____

____Whilst Pixie was busy attacking Aurora, Ebizo stared into the mirror. It was faint, but there was a figure of sorts behind him. When he looked behind him, no one was there. The figure was only seen through this mirror._ _ _ _

____

____He felt himself muttering those words. "Persona... Tsuki-Yomi..."_ _ _ _

____

____With a howl, a wolf burst forth from his heart. Ebizo could feel wind rush around him as Pixie... evaporated? Disappeared into thin air? Maybe he was dreaming._ _ _ _

____

____The wolf(?) began to speak to the group. "I am thou, thou art I... I am Tsuki-Yomi, guardian of the moon. I will become your shadow... your other self."_ _ _ _

____

____"Wow! You got a Persona!" giggled Natsumi, running up to Tsuki-Yomi and petting it. "See? I knew that would work! People like you can get a persona and use it to defend yourselves!"_ _ _ _

____

____"That's so cool, Ebizo-!" Aurora said in admiration, "We'll be able to clear the way with that, uh, thing... as long as you're protecting me..." she blushed._ _ _ _

____

____"Natsumi, you... knew about this?" Ebizo asked her, putting the pocket mirror back into his pocket. His 'Persona' disappeared along with it. "Don't say that it was your idea all along..."_ _ _ _

____

____Natsumi nodded, beginning to walk into the haunted mansion. "I couldn't hurt my friends. My master says I can't. Buuut... she didn't say anything about you two!"_ _ _ _

____

____The two of them chuckled at Natsumi's antics. A bit of Ebizo wanted to ask about Natsumi's 'master', but he had bigger problems right now. Like adjusting to everything around him._ _ _ _

____

____He walked closer to Aurora and held her hand. "Hey. Um. Hope you're coping well with, uh, everything... I promise I'll find a way out of this. Shinsui or not."_ _ _ _

____

____"Oh, god, I forgot about him," chuckled Aurora, "I've been too preoccupied with... you know, Natsumi, the whole Persona thing... I'm just glad I'm with you. If I was with Shinsui, I would've ran off! I hate that guy!"_ _ _ _

____

____Natsumi huffed and separated their hands. "If you keep talking, you'll attract more of my friends... then you'll alert their master before we even get a chance to surprise them. We won't stand a chance if we don't get a surprise attack!"_ _ _ _

____

____"You mean Ebizo won't stand a chance against them," Aurora reminded Natsumi, "Seeing as you and I haven't got a Persona... say, can I get one? Or is there a certain criteria?"_ _ _ _

____

____"I, ah..." Natsumi shook her head. She seemed nervous all of a sudden. "... I don't actually know. I only know that my master has one. She never really told me how they work... so, uh, I was kinda making a bet there."_ _ _ _

____

____"Y-You could've gotten us killed-!" cried Ebizo, his jaw dropping. "Natsumi! You better not lead us into another trap, or I'll-!"_ _ _ _

____

____Natsumi dived to the ground, taking Ebizo and Aurora down with her. She pointed to a nearby room. "L-Look... their master is inside there. I can feel it. I know we only have Ebizo, but... if he's just awakened to his Persona, then maybe we'll stand a chance..."_ _ _ _

____

____Sighing, Ebizo stood up and glanced at the slightly broken doorway. "Let's just get this over with... if we stay any longer, my mother will ask my father to start searching for me... I don't want to end up having a manhunt after me again. That was embarrassing."_ _ _ _

____

____"Okay, remind me to ask you about that later," giggled Aurora, standing next to him. "I believe in you, Ebizo! Natsumi and I will be supporting you from the sidelines."_ _ _ _

____

____He smiled at them both and charged inside, not knowing what to expect. In reality, he just wanted to look cool in front of Aurora. She was counting on him, after all._ _ _ _

____

____The group gasped upon seeing the twisted version of the dead groundskeeper. Her body was bloated; her skin a dark blue. Well, it was hard to tell, since her body was mostly transparent. You know, like a stereotypical ghost. She practically screamed that, even through her twisted movements._ _ _ _

____

____"Persona!" yelled Ebizo, summoning Tsuki-Yomi. "Hey, uh... you! Let us out! We wanna go back to our non-haunted home!"_ _ _ _

____

____The dead groundskeeper turned, putting their weight on their left side. "Kids... get out of here... you always make a messssss..." she snarled._ _ _ _

____

____"Ooh... ghosts are soooo creepy!" Natsumi chuckled, despite the harsh atmosphere. "Well, uh... let me see... looks like she uses dark skills, mostly. Perhaps if we use light skills, they'll be effective! ... Uh, before you ask, shadows can see each other's skills. I'm still working on weaknesses and strengths. Maybe hanging out with you guys will help!"_ _ _ _

____

____"J-Just... one problem..." Ebizo murmured, his face growing pale. "... I, uh, my Persona has fire and dark skills, mainly. Nothing to do with light."_ _ _ _

____

____The group gasped as the ghostly groundskeeper readied an attack. "Maeiga!" she cried, a void of energy launching towards Ebizo and Aurora. For some reason, she didn't attack Natsumi._ _ _ _

____

____Tsuki-Yomi took the hit for Ebizo, but Aurora didn't have a Persona to do the same. It hit her square in the chest. She fell backwards, knocking the air out of her lungs._ _ _ _

____

____"Aurora-!" yelled Ebizo, turning his attention away from the groundskeeper. He ran towards his friend, but was intercepted by another attack._ _ _ _

____

____He fell to the floor, his pocket mirror stabbing his chest. Already, he was beginning to hate the idea of the whole pocket mirror thing. Why couldn't it be something less annoying, like a mask or a tarot card?_ _ _ _

____

____Without thinking, Aurora stood up protectively in front of Ebizo. She couldn't bare to see him hurt any more, especially because of her. Something inside of her snapped._ _ _ _

____

____As another attack hurled towards her, a yellow pocket mirror formed in her hands. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. She gazed into the yellow pocket mirror, seeing a figure with long, red hair behind her._ _ _ _

____

_"You want to save your friend... call to me, sweet girl. Prove that this is your true self. Isn't that what you should do around your friends?”_

____

______She heard the words whisper into her ear. "Persona... Brigit!"_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______In a flash of light, the figure she saw in the mirror appeared behind her. It looked exactly like a warrior she had seen in her picture books as a child._ _ _ _ _ _

____

_"I am thou... thou art I... I am Brigit, guardian of fire and sweet poetry. I will grant you my power, young one... use it as your weapon."_

____

______"Alright!" Aurora said, grinning madly. "Ebizo, I can help you now! Now... Brigit! Kouha!" she cried, a blast of light flying towards the groundskeeper._ _ _ _ _ _

____

______It hit her square-on, much to the joy of Aurora. The groundskeeper flew backwards into a nearby wall, passing through it._ _ _ _ _ _

____

______"Wow! It was super effective!" Natsumi grinned, clapping for Aurora. "Good thing you have light skills... we'd be pretty screwed if we didn't."_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______Ebizo stood up and hugged Aurora. "I... thanks... I didn't expect for you to... n-never mind. We can talk about this later. Let's get rid of this thing first!" he yelled triumphantly._ _ _ _ _ _

____

______Aurora and Ebizo pointed towards the emerging ghostly body of the groundskeeper. They high-fived (Aurora's idea) and readied their attacks._ _ _ _ _ _

____

______"Tsuki-Yomi, agi!"_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______"Brigit, hama!"_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______The two attacks knocked the groundskeeper to the ground. Her eyes glared at them as she began to speak again. "I will not be chased away again! You kids... will pay!"_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______"Perhaps we need a water skill," Ebizo suggested, glancing towards Natsumi. "She's weak to light, but since she drowned-"_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______Natsumi giggled and chucked a water bottle at Ebizo. "I found this in some boys' bag! Will that help? It's not exactly a Persona skill, buuuuut-"_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______Aurora grabbed the bottle from Ebizo and aimed it at the groundskeeper. "Hey! It's game over for you!" she grinned, realising that she was getting tired already. "Say your last words..."_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______The groundskeeper charged at Aurora, her eyes rolling back into the back of her head. Ebizo screamed and hugged Aurora tight. Natsumi ended up laughing harder._ _ _ _ _ _

____

______At least, Aurora opened the water bottle and lobbed it towards the ghostly groundskeeper. The water acted like acid; burning right through the ghost. It melted away, turning into liquid onto the floor._ _ _ _ _ _

____

______"I... w-wow... I can't believe that worked," chuckled Aurora, throwing the empty bottle away. "Natsumi, how the hell did that work? Only our Personas managed to hit it..."_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______"'Cuz you weakened it, duh," Natsumi told her, chucking the bag towards Ebizo (who barely managed to catch it). "This shadow really hated water... it was like a phobia to them, and you got them rattled enough to drop their guard."_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______Ebizo sighed in relief. His first big battle had been a bit of a mess, and if Aurora hadn't been there (and Natsumi, sure)... he didn't want to think about it._ _ _ _ _ _

____


	4. Velvet Clock Tower

Ebizo and Aurora fell to the ground straight after the defeat of the groundskeeper. They were running on adrenaline this entire time, and it had finally ran out.

"I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Natsumi grinned at them, "You should be transported back soon... along with everything else that doesn't belong here."

"Good... I just wanna go home and nap," Aurora whined, "Thanks for everything, Natsumi. You didn't have to help us, but you did..."

"I couldn't just leave you to die-!" pouted Natsumi, "For the sake of you two, I really hope we don't meet again. It's bad enough when people like you get sucked into here. You're not supposed to be here!"

Ebizo shrugged and picked up Shinsui's backpack. "Hey, maybe Shinsui will turn up when we leave. I can see him hiding away behind a door or something." 

The two of them laughed Shinsui's whereabouts off as a mirror formed in front of them. It was big enough to fit the two of them in, unlike their small pocket mirrors.

Thinking it was a portal, Ebizo raised his hand towards the mirror. He was right; he felt his consciousness fade away as he walked through it. Back to his world.

Aurora followed suit, waving goodbye to Natsumi. The rest of the haunted mansion faded away once they left, leaving the area as it was before. A few bits of debris here and there. Not a shadow in sight.

Now alone, Natsumi turned to see her master standing behind her. She must've been alerted once it returned to normal, Natsumi thought. She bowed and looked back up at her master.

Her master sat down next to her and opened her arms. Natsumi smiled softly and sat on her master's lap, feeling the warmth spread throughout her body. 

"So it failed," her master began, "Typical. This is going to give me a headache... at least we learned one thing," she grinned.

"Hm? What did we learn, master?" Natsumi asked her, tilting her head. Her eyes looked over to where her master was looking.

"Looks like those monsters can't live in here for long. I knew my beloved shadows would take care of them," she giggled, pointing to the body in front of them. "I'll make sure to dump it in a place where everybody can see..."

Natsumi wanted to tell her about Ebizo and Aurora, but she didn't want to anger her. She would get yelled at. Being yelled at made her cry. 

Instead, she hugged her master tight and closed her eyes. Maybe she'd just forget all about the two people she had met, one day...

——

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mirror, Ebizo and Aurora stumbled outside of the abandoned shack. They were coughing madly; their exhaustion catching up to them in the reality, too. At least, that was what Ebizo likes to call it.

"I'll give this back to Shinsui when he comes into school tomorrow," Ebizo told Aurora as he held up Shinsui's backpack. "No point in waiting around for him to wake up after passing out due to fright."

Aurora giggled and pointed towards the setting sun. "Oh, gosh-! We're so late!" she cried, pulling out her phone. "I didn't get a signal in there, but... oh... five missed calls from my mother..."

"Let's run," Ebizo exclaimed, grabbing Aurora's arm and pulling her along. "I still have to get you home, after all... we just might make it home in time for dinner!"

Half an hour later, Ebizo arrived home, panting heavily. According to his mother, if he took an hour or more, she would've been forced to send his father's police patrol out to find him. He really couldn't that happen again.

"Finally home, then?" Suzue chuckled, pushing a plate full of food towards him. "Here, you can have Kinuya's food... I made her all of this, and she barely touched it..."

Ebizo dumped himself on a chair next to his brother. He was playing with his food, as usual. If anything, he just played with it more, now that he had some company.

"Mommy said you were kissing that girl!" Tasuku giggled mercilessly, shoving some rice into his mouth. "Daddy wasn't very happy when he heard about it... you're in so much trouble!"

"Dad's home?" Ebizo asked his mother, his eyes lighting up. That's how he knew he was late. When his father was home before him.

Suzue nodded and glanced behind her. "He wanted to watch the news, so he's gone to grab his tablet. I don't want Tasuku hearing about all of those nasty things, so I demanded that he wear headphones..."

As if on queue, Ebizo's father, Taijo, walked into the room. He was focused on putting his headphone jack into the tablet, unaware that Ebizo was even there.

"The town of Jansaai experienced a very minor 1.7 magnitude earthquake earlier today," The tablet bleeped, "If you felt it, let us know!"

Taijo finally plugged in the headphone jack and looked up at the table. "Oh, Ebizo... you're back!" he smiled, "Your mother was just about to send me to look for you. It's not like you to go all silent like that-"

"Don't interrogate our baby-!" Suzue interjected, beginning to clean up Tasuku's mess. "He just got back... at least let him eat first, sweetie."

Tasuku got up from his chair and dived for Shinsui's backpack. "Hey, why do you have two bags? You only left with one... do I get a free backpack?"

"Yeah... what are you doing with that?" Taijo continued his interrogation despite Suzue's interjections. "That's an odd thing to bring back from school."

"I'm just holding it for a friend," Ebizo told the truth, sort of. It wasn't lying if he didn't tell them everything. Besides, they wouldn't believe him, anyway. "He left it in class, and the teacher told me to give it to him in the morning."

"That's sweet of you!" grinned Suzue, "If only Kinuya was like that... she's gotten a lot meaner ever since she joined the cheerleading club. I appreciate that she found some friends, but-"

"It's that Atsudo family, Suzue," Taijo sighed, putting down his tablet on the table. He had the subtitles turned on, so he could still understand what was going on. "It happened when their eldest was in that school. Honestly, the amount of times I caught that girl getting involved in things she... look, Kinuya is alright now, but what's next? Drugs?"

Suzue shook her head, tearing up a little. "N-No, I... Ebizo, go check on your sister, will you? Bring her some pudding... m-maybe she'll eat that!"

Ebizo sensed the tension in the room and grabbed Kinuya's pudding from his mother. He trotted upstairs and rapped his hand against her bedroom door. Even if they were twins, Kinuya got the larger room, since she had 'more stuff', according to his mother. He was a little jealous. Just a little.

"It's open!" Kinuya yelled out, obviously not caring enough to open the door herself. "You can play with my dolls, but don't cut their hair, okay?"

Frowning, Ebizo entered the room. His sister gasped; she was expecting someone else. Specifically Tasuku, from what Kinuya yelled out. Sometimes he raided their rooms to find toys to play with. Often when they weren't there.

"Mom wanted you to eat this pudding," said Ebizo as set the pudding down on her desk. "She's really worried about your eating habits-"

"I don't need you to lecture me," Kinuya scoffed, "I already have food. Alright? I don't need anymore."

Ebizo looked over at her desk and noticed a bag full of cotton balls, next to a jug of orange juice. Kinuya had poured the juice into a bowl, for some reason.

"Uh... I don't see any other food around here..." mumbled Ebizo, wondering how cotton balls could be used as food. "... Are you just lying to me?"

Kinuya didn't respond at first. She crossed her arms and held her phone up to her ear. "I'm going to call Chieko. Leave me alone."

Knowing he couldn't get her to talk any further, Ebizo left the room. His food had given him a little burst of energy, but he still needed a good night's sleep. He wondered if Aurora felt the same.

——

Ebizo rubbed his eyes. He couldn't make out where he was; all he could see was a room of blue. A large clock loomed in front of him, having just gone past the hour. It seemed to be stuck in place.

Looking down, there were two people before him. His eyes were immediately drawn to a man sitting on a chair; his nose was... cartoonish, to say the least. He didn't realise nose's could get that big.

The figure next to him was a boy, around his age. His hair was a stark platinum blond, with his eyes being bright yellow. Another odd feature was the fact that he was wearing an outfit of blue; even his silly little top hat was blue.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," the large-nosed figure spoke to him, "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." 'Igor' smirked.

Ebizo looked around the room further. Looking at it now, he realised that he was in a large clock tower. 

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter," continued Igor, "It is a room that only those bound by a 'contract' may enter. Don't worry - the you in reality is fast asleep. You are experiencing this as a dream."

The boy next to him stepped forward. "This is Henry, a resident of this place, like myself," Igor explained, gesturing to Henry. "We are both here to aid you in your journey to come."

"My... my journey?" Ebizo muttered, speaking for the first time since this encounter. "What are you talking about?"

"Today, you gained a 'Persona', correct?" Henry smiled at him, "We can help you train and shape your abilities for the better. With your journey ahead, you'll definitely need the help..."

"Oh, god... you're telling me I have to go through all of that again?" whined Ebizo, "I thought I sorted it! Handled it! Got rid of it!"

Igor shook his head. "Whilst we are both unsure of what happens in your future, we can use the cards to guide us. Try as you might, fate catches up to you. Only a select few have been able to change their fates."

"I wonder if you'll join them?" Henry giggled to himself as he set down a deck of cards. "Please, pick a card for us."

Ebizo sighed and picked a random card from the deck. He turned it over, revealing the tarot card 'The Fool'. 

"The Fool represents a new beginning, an end to your old life," Igor told him, "Important decisions wait for you... looks like your journey wasn't as quick as you thought."

"It's also one of the most powerful cards in the deck," Henry mentioned, patting Ebizo's head. "Don't feel too frightened. If you're ever in a place of doubt, come to us, and we can do another reading for you."

"I... uh, thanks...?" Ebizo smiled awkwardly, still not used to all of this. "But... why me? Why am I here?"

"You signed a contract, remember?" Igor pointed out. Ebizo's memory was jogged; he remembered a dream the night before, where he signed a bit of paper. Maybe that was what Igor was talking about. "You hold a very powerful soul. If you choose your cards carefully, you may be able to discover things about yourself that you never knew about."

"I'm sure we'll be meeting again very soon," Henry grinned, "If you need to meet with us, I'll be there. Just... not in the way you might think."

Nodding, Ebizo felt himself float away. He hadn't had the chance to thank or say goodbye to the two figures. Dreams were quite rude. 

But was what he had just experienced a simple dream, or was it something more than that? A part of him knew that it wasn't an ordinary dream, no matter how much he wanted to deny it.


	5. Death Arcana

The next morning, Aurora had asked to meet up with Ebizo before homeroom started. He assumed that it was because she was a new student and didn't know where some rooms were. Her worried face said otherwise.

"Nobody has seen Shinsui since yesterday," she whispered, pulling him into a quiet hallway. "Do you think maybe he took the day off?"

"It could be," Ebizo wondered aloud. He remembered how his sister was usually with the group of girls that Shinsui sought after, specifically Chieko. "I could text my sister to see if she's seen him. She hangs about with the cheerleaders, and they seem to know everything."

Aurora nodded and watched Ebizo type. Even if Shinsui had been mean to the two of them, she was still concerned for him. Ebizo had known Shinsui for more than a year, and he didn't feel the same way.

_"Hey. Have you or Chieko seen Shinsui anywhere? Apparently no one's seen him since yesterday"_ Ebizo typed and hit send. 

Kinuya responded a minute later. She was always on her phone, after all. _"OMG, no!!! Chieko says she hasn't seen him anywhere (ﾉД') It's SO annoying!! She's his gf, and she doesn't even care!"_

"I-I'm sure he just took the day off," Aurora reassured the two of them, "He's like that. Right?"

Ebizo couldn't say for sure. Besides, he was sure that Natsumi would've handled it if she found Shinsui.

"My brain's still a bit frazzled from yesterday, to be honest," admitted Ebizo, "I mean... what the hell was all of that?" he decided to omit the entire 'velvet room' dream. 

"I think we saved... something... maybe ourselves?" Aurora frowned, "What if it happens again, and we aren't there to help?"

They both thought of their pocket mirrors. The ones they could use to summon their personas. "We should look into those pocket mirror more," suggested Ebizo, "Perhaps they have something to do with it. Like, a connection to the other world."

"There's no point in racking our brains about it," she said, smiling nervously. "Homeroom is starting soon... I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

Ebizo waved Aurora off and headed inside his classroom. Mr. Haraki was late again, to no surprise. 

Akoto turned to Ebizo and waved. "Hey, Ebizo! Been up to anything lately? I was so bored yesterday!"

He decided to keep the fact that Luethea was real a secret. 

——

Kinuya Niikura waved over to Chieko and sat down on the cheerleader's table. It was lunch. She was ready to consume her cotton balls, along with the rest of the girls.

To no one's surprise, Chieko Atsudo was texting away on her phone. "Soooo, Kin-Kin, are you still worried about Shi-Shi?"

She had a habit of referring to people she liked as... well, most of the time, it was the first three letters of their name, repeated. Shinsui was Shi-Shi, Kinuya was Kin-Kin, and so on. If Chieko referred to you as that, people would know that you were 'in'. Whatever that meant, Kinuya thought.

Kinuya didn't want her social status to drop, so she shook her head. "No... like you said, he's probably skiving or something." she was dead worried, and Chieko's uncaring attitude didn't help. 

A notification pinged onto her phone, so she looked down at her screen. It was Suzue, her mother, texting the 'family group chat' their father had set up. _'Tasuku needs picking up after school... I have a dentist appointment and can't go x'_

She pretended to ignore it. Sure enough, a message came through moments later. It was Ebizo. _'I can pick him up. Any excuse to get out of school early!'_

_'Ahh thank you... skiver!'_ Suzue messaged back. It was a miracle that she hadn't made any spelling mistakes. Perhaps she finally figured out how autocorrect worked.

Looking over at one of the back tables, Kinuya saw Ebizo happily chatting away with his friends. A part of her wanted to visit him, but Chieko's chatter soon pulled her away from  
her daydream.

——

"Ebizoooooo!" cried Tasuku, running up to his brother. "Where's mommy? She didn't say anything about you picking me up!"

Ebizo smiled down at him and held his hand. "She has a dentist appointment. We're going to walk home together, okay?"

Tasuku nodded and chucked his bag towards Ebizo. "Mommy always holds my bag for me," he smirked, "You have to do it, too."

Reluctantly, Ebizo held his bag for him. He always thought that he was a bit spoilt for his age. Just a little bit. 

"I wanna pet the doggy," Tasuku muttered, running ahead of Ebizo. "Mommy says I can pet him as long as I wash my hands afterwards!"

"A... a dog?" questioned Ebizo, "I... what dog? Is it someone's dog? Or a stray?"

His brother pointed towards a shiba inu sitting on the side of the road. Upon seeing Tasuku, the dog barked and ran up to him. 

"Hey, Aki-Aki!" chirped Tasuku, petting the small dog. "I missed you! Did you miss me?"

Ebizo bent down and examined the dog's collar. 'My name is Aki. I like cookies and ice cream'

"Where's the contact number?" Ebizo asked his brother, "Most dogs have one, so you can contact the owner."

"He doesn't have an owner," replied Tasuku as he looked up towards Ebizo. "Didn't you know? He doesn't have an owner anymore. The nearby shelter ran out of money, and no one would take him in. So they just... let him go."

"What? Why wouldn't they take him in?" He asked, still highly confused. 

"All of his past three owners died within the first few months of owning him," Tasuku continued, "So nobody wants to take care of him! Isn't it sad? They're all a bunch of meanies!"

Aki looked up at Ebizo with kind eyes. He was kind of cute, in a way. His tail was wagging madly. 

"I... let's bring him home, shall we?" Ebizo suggested, "I'm sure Mom won't mind making a meal for him. It'll do him good, instead of sleeping out here. Wherever he sleeps."

Tasuku picked up Aki and gasped. "Wow, really?! That's a great idea! We can give him cuddles everyday, and walk him when I go to school!"

Aki seemed to get what they were talking about. He was barking madly, his wagging tail out of control. 

When the two arrived home, Suzue was there waiting for them. She had a worried look on her face when they walked in - since they were supposed to be home before her, after all. 

"What's Aki doing here?" Suzue asked, taking the dog from Tasuku's arms. "Ooh, looks like he needs a bath... and a brush, too!"

"I'll give him a bath," Ebizo smiled and took Aki from his mother, "Look... Tasuku and I were talking... why don't we adopt Aki? With dad away, I... the house has been quieter, and you've been more lonely."

Suzue looked at the two and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, you two... I know your father has been busy lately... he said he'd try and get some days off for golden week! We want to go to the beach, too, so we'll get a holiday sometime between August and September!"

"It's okay, mommy!" Tasuku grinned, "We can surprise him with Aki when he gets home! Ebizo can wash him whilst we go buy a doggy bed!"

"You're right... we can't have a dog living here when he has nowhere to sit!" Suzue realised as she picked up her handbag. "Come on, baby, let's go and find some nice toys for him!"

Ebizo waved the two off and headed into the bathroom, beginning to run the water. "Aki, what temperature do you want? Lukewarm or cold?" he asked the dog.

Aki yapped once, so Ebizo assumed that meant lukewarm. Once the bath was full, he lowered Aki into the bath. Surprisingly, Aki seemed to love the water, not resisting.

He began to pour water over the dog, rubbing his paws gently to get the mud off of them. It was his first time doing this, and to be honest, he had no idea what he was doing. 

The dog looked at him intently. Ebizo couldn't explain it, but he felt as if he had a connection with Aki. It was the same connection he felt with Aurora whilst they were in Luethea. 

Aki yapped again, his nose sniffing at Ebizo's jacket. He dived into his pocket and pulled out his pocket mirror. 

"H-Hey-!" cried Ebizo, "That's... not a toy! I need that! It's important to me! I have no way of getting a replacement!"

With a whine, Aki dropped the pocket mirror on Ebizo's lap. It was covered in dog drool. He grabbed a towel and wiped the drool away, the mirror facing Aki.

In the light, Ebizo could see something reflected in the mirror above Aki. Frowning, he positioned the mirror and saw that there was a tarot card floating above Aki's head.

The dog barked in his ear once more. He seemed to have seen it, too. Hovering above Aki was the death arcana (at least, that's what the skull told him).

"That's... weird," muttered Ebizo, trying to recall his time in the velvet room. "You know, they never told me about this part. I don't think. What does it-"

He was interrupted by the sound of somebody opening the door. Ebizo spun around to see Henry, of all people, walk through it. Henry sat down next to him and smiled.

"I was watching you the entire time. Could you blame me?" he giggled, "Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to explain this to you. You see, you create 'bonds' as you go throughout your journey-"

"You're telling me my first bond is with a dog?" Ebizo asked, sighing heavily. He did not sign up for this.

"I... is there a problem with that?" frowned Henry, "Look at Aki! He's very cute. He'll help you in more ways than one, you know. Did you know that dogs bark before an earthquake occurs? It's like they can sense when it's about to happen."

Ebizo looked towards Aki and gasped. "You mean... we could tell if something happens with Luethea! Around the time Aurora and I were transported, an earthquake was recorded... we sure as hell felt like we were in one, too. It could be linked... which means we'll be able to...!"

"You did seem very confused, so I'm glad I didn't have to point out all of it," Henry chuckled, "Having your first bond be with a dog is... unprecedented, to say the least. Most guests have theirs with, you know, a regular human."

"Who else can I get these bonds with?" questioned Ebizo, "Aurora? It must be with my other friends, too, like Akoto and-"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Such a thing is unknown, even to me," Henry said, smiling sadly, "You're lucky I was watching you. I would've had to wait until you went to sleep if not."

"Oh, yeah, why the hell are you h-"

Ebizo was interrupted, once again, by his mother's voice downstairs. "We're hooooome~!" she cried.

He was just about to ask Henry to hide, when he turned around to see that Henry had just... vanished. Into thin air. Exactly as he came in. 

Aki jumped out of the bath and Ebizo quickly dried him with a towel. He was going to leave paw prints everywhere if not. 

Tasuku ran into the bathroom and giggled. "Wow! He's like a whole new dog! Say, Aki... would you like to see what we got for you?!"

The dog barked happily and followed Tasuku downstairs. Ebizo was just about to join them when he realised that the bathroom was a mess, and so was he. He elected to stay back and clean up after him and the dog.


	6. The Kid Detective

Perrie Embra was walking to school, listening to their headphones. They took the same route they always did, passing through the park and the abandoned groundskeeper's shack. 

_"♪Domo arigato Mr. Roboto♪"_

From the distance, the shack looked a bit different from usual. The last they heard, a small earthquake like the one a day or two ago wouldn't be strong enough to cause any structural damage.

_"♪mata au hima de♪"_

Walking closer, they found that the structure had partially collapsed. They saw a shoe peeking out of the doorway and assumed that a drunkard had fallen onto it. You know, mistaking it for a bed.

_"♪domo arigato Mr. Roboto♪"_

They turned the volume down on their phone and kicked the drunkard. "Hey, it's morning. Don't you have some place to be...?"

_"♪himitsu wo shiri tai♪"_

After a lack of response, Perrie sighed and took it upon themselves to wake the guy up. The figure was collapsed on their stomach, their face unseen.

_"♪You're wondering who I am (Secret, secret, I've got a secret)♪"_

When they turned over the figure, they gasped and fell backwards in shock. Of all the people, it was Shinsui, the school bully. Maybe he got really drunk, which was why he didn't bother showing up to school...?

_"♪Machine or mannequin (Secret, secret, I've got a secret♪"_

Noticing that his chest wasn't rising or falling, Perrie checked for a pulse. They couldn't find any. No heartbeat, either.

_"♪With parts made in Japan (Secret, secret, I've got a secret♪"_

Cursing under their breath, Perrie dialled for an ambulance. "Come quick! I found him with no pulse... Ah, location, right..."

_"♪I am the modren man♪"_

——

Meanwhile, Ebizo had just arrived at school himself. He headed straight for his homeroom, not wanting to run into Shinsui if he was nearby. For one, he still had yet to give back his bag. 

Surprisingly, his teacher, Mr. Haraki, was there already. He was talking to Akoto and Koichi, who were standing at his desk. They both looked as confused as Ebizo during a math test.

"What are you going to do for Golden Week, sir?" Akoto asked him, leaning up against his desk.

"It's almost Golden Week already?" Mr. Haraki mumbled, "Ah, well... I was hoping to spend some time with someone on Children's day..."

"Who is it?!" Koichi immediately yelled, as curious as ever. "Is it-"

"It's none of your business. Sit back down, you two," he retorted, sitting up straight for the first time in a while. It seemed they touched a nerve. 

Akoto and Koichi shrugged and sat down. Even though homeroom was now starting, there was still an empty seat. Ebizo racked his brain for the person that was supposed to be sitting there, but came up with nothing."

"Perrie?" Mr. Haraki called out, glancing over at the empty seat. "Huh. That's odd... they've never been late before..."

The class erupted into whispers.  
 _"They've never been late before?"  
"Their parents must be moving again..."  
"They're probably just ill."_

"Quiet, you lot," Mr. Haraki huffed, "It's no big deal. Don't you have something better to gossip about?"

——

Halfway through break, Mr. Haraki approached Ebizo. He seemed more distressed than usual. And that was saying something.

"There's a policeman here to see you," he told him, "They're asking about Shinsui... it was either you or Aurora, but he insisted on only seeing you."

Ebizo's eyes rolled back as he heard the mention of a policeman. There was only one person that would bother him like this. "He's waiting for me outside in his stupid car, isn't he?" he asked, "I don't think I'll be back. I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully..."

He turned his heel and walked outside, waving goodbye to his friends. Thanks to this policeman, he didn't even get the chance to speak to them. He couldn't wait to talk to his mother about this.

The car was parked in front of the school. Ebizo climbed in, throwing his bag in the back. "It's nice to see you too, dad," he sighed, putting his seatbelt on. 

Taijo started the engine and started to drive away. "Sorry to pull you out of school. I tried to tell them that you needed an education, but they weren't having it..."

"What's this about?" Ebizo questioned, staring out of the window. "Where are we going? I haven't done anything."

His father didn't respond. Instead, they drove in silence to the police station. Ebizo guessed that he couldn't exactly do any interrogating in the car.

When they arrived, his colleagues tried to persuade him against interrogating his own son. Ebizo wanted to listen more, but he was told to sit in one of the interrogation rooms. If it wasn't his dad interrogating him, he would've been scared to death.

Taijo entered the room and sat down opposite him. A bundle of papers was in his hands. He looked tired. "Listen... Ebizo... I've had some witnesses say that you and a girl called Aurora were last seen with Shinsui-"

"Oh, so this is about him?" Ebizo frowned, "I was just holding his bag for him, dad. He's just ill."

"He's... he's not ill, Ebizo," Taijo turned over one of the papers in his possession. "His body was found today. By one of your classmates, actually."

Ebizo's jaw dropped. "D... Dead?! But he... I... he was..."

"So, what was he doing the last time you saw him?" questioned Taijo, getting straight to the point. "He was following you two after school. If an incident occurred..."

He drowned out the rest of his father's words. Due to the... circumstances... around the last time he saw Shinsui. He doubted that his father would take him seriously. Taijo would probably ask for a drug test.

"He wanted to mess with Aurora," Ebizo blurted out, "It was the groundskeeper's shack... he ran into a wall and was knocked unconscious."

Taijo sighed and showed Ebizo the autopsy report. "I wish I could believe you, son... I really do. But the only injuries he picked up were post mortem, and that was from great height. We're still figuring out the cause of death, to be honest..."

Ebizo froze. He was running out of ideas. "Well... that's what... you know what? Maybe you'd believe me if you were actually home. We never see you anymore. We got a dog, just to replace you-"

His father's eyes widened. "What?! We got a dog? E-Ebizo, I... don't say such things. This has nothing to do with that. I just want to know the truth."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he argued back.

"Try me," smirked Taijo. "I believe it wasn't your fault, no matter what happened."

Ebizo took a deep breath. "Shinsui followed us into the abandoned shack. It was around that time that the earthquake happened - but it definitely wasn't a 1.7. We tried to get out, but there was a force blocking the exit. When we came to, we were in a different world-"

"Another world?" Taijo frowned, a look of disappointment on his face. "Ebizo... I thought you would tell the truth if it was with me..."

"I am!" he insisted, "Aurora will say the same! You have to believe me, dad... when we got out, we had no idea where Shinsui was! We didn't see him after the earthquake!"

Taijo stood up and opened the door. He seemed to have given up. "You're free to go for now. We don't actually have any evidence against you... only that you were with him, which you've admitted as much."

Ebizo crossed his arms and walked out. "Just because I was with him doesn't mean I killed him... as much as he was a brat, he didn't... you know..."

His father, however, walked off in the opposite direction. Ebizo might've survived the interrogation, but how the hell was he supposed to get home now? 

——

Taijo had been getting messages the entire time from a newbie detective assigned to the case. By 'newbie' he was referring to a kid the same age as Ebizo. He had no idea how or why this had even happened, but he just learnt to deal with these things.

Juichi Rakuyama looked up from his phone and huffed. "You didn't reply to any of my messages! I told you that I should've interviewed the suspect!"

"That suspect is my son," hissed Taijo, "He didn't know anything. He said he was with Shinsui, but... he said something about another world...?"

"He's just making it up, duh," Juichi said, rolling his eyes. "It's because you interrogated him. He knows he can get away with lying and making up wild stories."

"But that's not the Ebizo I know," argued Taijo, "He wouldn't have just made something up like that... no one would. They would know it was believable. Besides, he wouldn't have admitted to being with Shinsui at first if he wasn't innocent."

"There's that other girl, remember?" Juichi reminded him, "We better interview her before he has a chance to exchange lies. There's no way they can both tell the same lie... they have to mess up somewhere!"

Whilst he did suspect a few bribes here and there which led to Juichi's involvement in this case, it wouldn't explain his strongly-worded reference from one of the higher ups at Interpol. Teiko Kagami was the name of the one who wrote his reference, he thought. Although, he didn't understand how the hell Juichi knew her.

Juichi got annoyed at the lack of response he was getting and dismissed Taijo. The young detective went back to his phone, chatting to Teiko about the case. 

_'So, what does the autopsy report say?'_ Teiko messaged him.

Juchi quickly replied. _'The only injuries he picked up were post mortem - and from a fall of great height. The shack was crushed by his weight when the witness found him. Where he could've fallen from... we don't know.'_

_‘Aww, Dont say that. You don't know 'yet' as they say. Did they figure out the cause of death yet?'_

_'His heart definitely stopped somehow. But we... well... he was perfectly healthy. Teenagers don't just go into cardiac arrest like that. Everything was fine, but his heart just... I don't know. I'm not a doctor'_

_'And what about the two suspects? Are you arresting them yet?'_

_'Detective Niikura - he's the father of one of the witnesses - claims we haven't got enough evidence for an arrest. Their story is complete bogus, too. They're hiding something, and I'm going to find out what!'_

_'Just... try not to break any laws whilst doing so. You'll need permission if you want to investigate them in their school. And some schools can be a bit iffy about that... they're worried about their image'_

_'I know,'_ Juichi paused for a moment before typing again. _'We still on for lunch? I'm free if you are'_

_'You may have to bring your lunch over here again... Ooh, I know! Why don't we try out that new fast food delivery app? I've been craving a burger...'_

He bit his lip at the mention of cravings. It reminded him of something he hated to think about. _'I'll come over near one. I'll let you decide the food this time, since you seem to have the app downloaded already...'_

_'One it is! See you soon'_

Juichi let out a sigh of relief. Even in messaging, he was terrified of making a spelling mistake for Teiko to see. He couldn't afford to be seen as illiterate. After all, he was a genius detective! He couldn't bring shame upon him and his family name!

He still had an hour or so to continue the investigation before he had to leave to meet Teiko. Grinning, he opened up the suspect's social media's and began to scroll through, hoping to find a single trace of evidence. Someone had to do it.

Juichi Rakuyama was going to arrest the killer, no matter what it took.


	7. Sun Arcana

Ebizo slumped on the first chair he could find, dropping his school bag next to him. His mother ended up taking him home, after picking up Tasuku. Taijo was going to get an earful when he got home.

"I can't believe it!" whined Suzue, "Your own father, accusing our baby boy of murder! You would never do such a thing..."

Tasuku laughed in the background. When Ebizo was in trouble, his little brother always found it hilarious. "Daddy loves me more than you, Ebizo! He loves Kinuya more, too!"

Ebizo shot him a glare. "I'm sure he loves us all equally, Tasu. You're just trying to wind me up... hey, where is Kinuya, anyway? Is she up in her room again?" he asked.

Frowning, Suzue glanced up at the clock. "I checked her room before we left, and after, too... she's got a key, hasn't she? Oh, what if she was waiting outside and-"

She was cut off by a slam of the front door. The three of them looked up and saw Kinuya, swaying a little. Her hair was a mess - she looked like she had been caught in a hurricane.

Kinuya threw her bag and stumbled towards the stairs. She didn't bother to say hi; she seemed to be in a daze. 

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Suzue asked her, grabbing her daughter's arm. "You stink of smoke... where have you been?"

"Ch... Chieko," Kinuya blurted out, coughing her guts out. "Mm... I wanted to take a nap before the party later, so I came home..."

"Party?!" Suzue cried, "You didn't tell me anything about this! There's no way you're going - not with a murderer on the loose! You're staying here, where I can see you!"

Kinuya shook off Suzue's grip and ran upstairs (not before slamming into the wall next to the stairs). "You never let me do anything!" she yelled as she slammed her bedroom door.

Suzue's face grew pale. "Kinuya-! Come back! We can talk about this... at least clean yourself up!" she exclaimed, running upstairs to catch her. Normally she would leave her be, but today seemed different.

Tasuku took a long sip of his drink. "Ebizo. What's up with Kinuya?" he asked his big brother.

"I don't know, Tasu," grumbled Ebizo, "But I have a feeling it's something to do with those cheerleader girls..."

——

The next morning, Ebizo received a text from Aurora. He was walking to school at the time, barely avoiding the rain. Suzue insisted that he take an umbrella.

_'Hey. Can I talk to you after school? I don't know if I'll be able to talk to you during Golden Week, so I want to get this out before then'_

Ebizo's face had a hint of pink. It wasn't from the rain. What could Aurora be talking about? He assumed they were going to hang out during Golden Week, anyway.

They sat opposite each other during lunch, yet Aurora didn't mention the text. When he tried to bring it up, Akoto or someone else would always interrupt him.

"So, what are you guys doing for Golden Week?" Akoto asked the group. "I was going to make plans, but the whole Shinsui thing put me off..."

"M-My parents managed to both get a day off, so they're going to take me to the park!" Koichi grinned, his eyes lighting up. "I like the swings... I'm starting to grow out of the kid ones, though."

Ebizo looked at his friend in disbelief. No wonder why he was often referred to as a toddler. He liked to forget that.

"I want to learn everything I can about Golden Week. It's my first time spending it in Japan. I love celebrating holidays!" Aurora chirped, seemingly in a good mood.

"Hopefully my dad can get a day off," said Ebizo, "Ever since Tasu was born, he's always had Children's Day off. Turns out having three kids makes your boss feel sorry for you."

Akoto frowned. "I don't get it. Why does he get the day off if he has kids? Surely the others have children of their own...?"

Aurora and Ebizo gave each other a knowing look. 

Meanwhile, the cheerleader's table was in shambles. Half of the girls had taken the day off to mourn Shinsui's death. Kinuya couldn't get the day off if she tried, whereas Chieko couldn't care less.

She was busy texting on her phone when Kinuya looked up to speak to her. "Chieko... d-do you think they'll... after the assembly-"

"Spit it out, Kin-Kin," spat Chieko as she rolled her eyes, "They always do assemblies like that when someone dies. I'm sure they'll find the killer."

"D-Don't say that so wildly-!" cried Kinuya, "He was your boyfriend... and now he's...!"

Chieko shrugged her shoulders. "So? People die all of the time. Now I can look for someone new! Besides, I knew I wasn't going to marry him, anyway-"

Kinuya stood up and ran out of the dining hall. She couldn't take much more of her. Last night was pushing the limit - Chieko had dragged her to a party after school. She showed no sign of mourning for her dead boyfriend.

Ebizo saw his sister run out, but decided it would be best to leave her alone. She always shut Ebizo out when he tried to comfort her. At school, she would only shut him out more.

——

After school ended, Aurora was waiting patiently by the gates. She kept scanning the flow of students, looking for Ebizo. Luckily, she wouldn't be kept waiting for much longer.

"Ebizo!" Aurora exclaimed, running towards him. "Thank you for coming... um, let's find somewhere a little more private. We can walk to my house. That way, we won't be interrupted by any bullies."

He nodded as they began to walk back. It wasn't awkward; Ebizo just didn't know what to say. So they walked in silence.

When they arrived, Ebizo sat down awkwardly on a nearby couch. Aurora dashed off to get him a drink. The house was decorated very differently to his; apart from the pictures of Aurora, of course.

However, he couldn't see a single baby or child photo of Aurora anywhere. Every photo of her was from when she was a teenager onwards. Even Ebizo had to deal with a baby photo here and there - so why wasn't it the same with Aurora?

She came back with two drinks and placed one in front of Ebizo. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Now that we're alone, I can finally talk about..."

Ebizo cleared his throat. "Y-Yes... what did you, uh, want to talk about? Is it about the other world?"

"No, no!" Aurora insisted, "It's nothing to do with that! It's, um... you're a really good friend, Ebizo. But I don't want you to hear the truth from someone else and leave me..."

"I would never leave you," said Ebizo, smiling at her. "Just what are you on about? What truth is there?"

Aurora shifted nervously. She slid over a small picture to him. "Um... here's a picture. Of me. When I was seven," she mumbled.

Ebizo looked down at the picture. It looked like Aurora, alright. Blonde hair, blue eyes. But her hair was a lot shorter - styled in a masculine way. It reminded Ebizo of how he looked when he was young.

"I... Aurora... what does this mean?" He asked, glancing up at her. "Were you a tomboy when you were growing up in America?"

Aurora shook her head. "I wasn't a tomboy, Ebizo. I... I was a boy. I'm transgender," she stated, the words tumbling out of her mouth.

She was worried that Ebizo would storm out. Or worse, tell everyone at school. But he didn't.

He just shrugged his shoulders. "Oh. Okay. That's cool. You being able to come out and say this, I mean. It must've taken a lot."

"I-I thought you'd reject me," exclaimed Aurora, "It's why we moved to Japan... everyone at my old school found it funny to call me by my dead name, Aaron. Even the teachers found ways to make fun of me... so I stopped going to school. My parents... thought it be best if we went somewhere where nobody would recognise me."

"I did wonder why there were no baby pictures of you," chuckled Ebizo, "You should see my house. There's baby pictures everywhere!"

Aurora cracked a smile. "My parents didn't want to put them up, just in case. They're very sweet about it. They’ve supported me all my life...”

“You’ve got me and the others now, too,” he told her, “I know you haven’t told Akoto and Koichi yet... but they’ll still stand by you. Especially now that the school bully is gone.”

“Don’t say that-!” she hissed, “You’ll bring a bad omen! I don’t want the ghost of Shinsui taunting me in my sleep. I’ve had enough of bullies for one lifetime.”

Ebizo was about to reply, but he was interrupted by a glowing light from his jacket. Frowning, he pulled out his pocket mirror to see it overwhelmed with a blinding light.

“What’s going on?” Aurora cried, rushing over to Ebizo’s side. She looked into the pocket mirror to see the sun arcana floating above her head. Ebizo would have to explain.

“U-Um. Henry told me that... this happens when I’ve bonded with someone,” he explained, “I don’t get it, so don’t think about it too much.”

“Who’s Henry?” pressed Aurora, “And why is it a tarot card? There better not be any supernatural stuff behind this...”

“I haven’t had anything weird happen yet,” he sighed, “Ever since we went into that other world, it’s been... weird. But not the good kind of weird. I mean, we almost died!”

“Yes, but I saved the day,” she chirped, “I’m an amazing Persona-user! Ah, but that reminds me... we’re pretty defenceless without them, right?”

Ebizo nodded slowly. “Yeah... I get where you’re coming from. What are you suggesting...?”

“We should bring weapons with us!” Aurora cried, “Look, I could bring two knives... I’m sure my parents won’t assume anything. Do you know what you could bring?”

He thought for a moment. “I... my dad once got a katana for some weird award... he never uses it, so I suppose he won’t notice it missing...”

“Exactly! This is perfect! This way, we won’t tire ourselves out so easily,” she continued, “Good luck hiding a katana, though.”

“I-It’s not like we can carry them around easily... or decide when these weird events occur,” Ebizo sighed, “We’ll have no choice but to carry them around with us. Let’s hope my dad doesn’t pick me up after school again...”

“Or figure out you stole his katana!” giggled Aurora, “I hope it’s not a fake. You know, one with a blunt edge. You could always sharpen it up.”

“Yes, and have someone walk in on me,” said Ebizo, rolling his eyes. “You know what it’s like living in a household with two parents and two siblings? It’s a miracle I get to sleep at night.”

“Aww, don’t say that. I would’ve loved siblings,” smiled Aurora, “You know, to play with and such.”

“Then you can meet Tasu next. You’ll change your mind,” Ebizo grinned, “You can look after him with me for the day! It’ll be perfect!”

“P-Perfect? Oh, he isn’t mean or anything, is he?” she frowned, “I would like to think that he’s adorable... he’s your younger brother, right?”

Ebizo nodded. “Yeah. He’s the baby of the family. So much so that he acts like it. He gets babied so much, honestly...”

Aurora burst out into laughter. Ebizo always found a way to make her laugh. It’s why she grew close to him so quickly. 

Whereas Ebizo loved making Aurora smile. It’s why he grew close to her so quickly. Perhaps that was why she was his first _human_ bond. As much as he loved Aki, it was embarrassing that his first bond was with a dog.

Why couldn’t it have been with Aurora?


	8. Away To Neverland

It was Golden Week. Ebizo and Aurora had finally managed to meet up - he was thankful that they found the time. He enjoyed spending time with Aurora. 

This time, they were hoping to spend a nice, normal day at the park. They planned a picnic. Once Suzue heard about this, she immediately overpacked a large basket for Ebizo. It was a miracle that she didn't insist on bringing Tasuku. 

Aurora kept trying to peek in the basket. "What did your mother pack you? There's only two of us... we aren't going out for the entire day."

"I know... she just doesn't want us to get hungry," Ebizo chucked, "She means well. The weather should be nice today, though. Lucky for us, hmm?"

"Yeah!" Aurora agreed, "It's a shame we can't go on the play area... I used to love playing on those when I was a kid. Didn't Koichi say he was going to visit the park with his parents...?"

"Oh, yeah," mumbled Ebizo, "Was that today? Maybe we should go and see. We have enough food for him to join us. He'll be with his parents." 

Aurora ran ahead towards the play area. Ebizo was left lugging the picnic basket behind her. Luckily, she stopped near the gate of the play area to wait for Ebizo. 

When Ebizo got there, the play area was mostly empty. The only people there were two adults. They were looking into one end of a small tunnel. 

Crawling out of the tunnel was Koichi, a child's harness on his chest. Ebizo never liked them. They reminded him of a dog's lead. Koichi jumped up upon getting out of the tunnel, beaming like crazy. The two adults clapped at his achievement. They must've been Koichi's parents, Ebizo thought.

Before they could call out to Koichi, it started to rain. Aurora huffed and covered her hair with her jacket. "I thought you said the weather was going to be nice today! What's up with this, huh, Ebizo?"

Ebizo huddled under Aurora's jacket and frowned. It definitely wasn't supposed to rain today. Out of instinct, he pulled out his pocket mirror and peered inside the glass. 

It was just like before. The rain started to pour backwards. They were outside of the play area, but even they could see the rain. Koichi and his parents looked round in confusion. 

"Get out!" Aurora cried, rushing towards the gate. Like last time, there was an invisible wall blocking the entrance to the play area. In a flash, the play area vanished. The earth had been scooped up and moved. Moved to the other world. 

"We've got to help them!" Ebizo declared, looking at the earth before them through his pocket mirror. "Look, Aurora! Look at it through your pocket mirror! There's a gateway here... maybe we can go through it and help Koichi...!"

"It's no use!" huffed Aurora. She grabbed her pocket mirror and looked at the gate. "I couldn't get through... it's not going to magically let us through now!"

Ebizo shrugged his shoulders and reached for the gateway. He almost fell flat on his feet when it didn't resist; ripples in the air formed from his hand. The gateway was reacting to his touch. 

Aurora gasped and grabbed Ebizo's hand. "I-I don't understand... but if we can get through... let's go, Ebizo. We have to save Koichi!"

——

When the two of them stepped through the gateway, they were transported to Luethea. This Realm of Twilight had changed since the last time they had been there. 

Instead of a haunted mansion, the area had been transformed into a lonely island. Instead of being vibrant and filled with colour, the island was more monotone. There was a bright moon shining down from the night sky. If it wasn't Luethea, Ebizo would've dared to call it beautiful. 

Although, everything was a bit bigger than what he was used to. When he looked down at his hands, he screamed. They were as small as a child's. He looked over at Aurora for conformation.

Sure enough, Aurora had changed, too. Ebizo hadn't seen what she looked like below the age of ten. If he was to guess what she looked like as a child from how he knew her now, her current child-like appearance would be it. She seemed overjoyed at her new appearance.

She hopped about excitedly. "Ebizo! Look at me! I'm a child! Isn't it amazing?! I have no idea what's going on, but... I'm loving it!"

Ebizo rolled his eyes. "Don't forget the plan. We need to save Koichi and his parents. We might've been turned into children, but I worry about his parents..."

_"Ebizoooooooo! Auroraaaaaa!"_

The two of them turned upon hearing a familiar voice. Ebizo knew that there could only be one other person that knew their names in Luethea. Natsumi.

Just like them, Natsumi had been reverted to a childlike form. She was a lot smaller; her robe was trailing behind her. It was a little dirty at the ends. 

"I was wondering if you two would show up!" She said with a grin, "It's happened again... it's even impacted shadows and things like you. My friends have all been... recruited... by the master shadow."

"Master shadow?" Aurora wondered, "Ah... like the gatekeeper from before? Like, if we defeat them, everything will go back to normal... like last time. We just need to find them! Natsumi, where is the big boss then, hmm?"

Natsumi scanned the area, a heavy frown on her face. "Um... I'm getting mixed signals. There's a group of shadows in the forest, and another group in the water... I can't swim, so I think we should check out the ones in the forest, first."

"Lead the way, Natsumi," Aurora nodded towards her general direction. "We might be able to find a boat or raft... I would prefer to not get wet."

The group began to head towards a heavily forested area, a spring in their step. There was a surprising lack of shadows about - Natsumi guesstimated that it was due to all of them gathering in one of the two locations. There was an odd shadow here and there, but it was nothing Ebizo and Aurora couldn't deal with. 

They grew close to the group of shadows in the forest. Ebizo could tell - the amount of shadows they were encountering had increased. Aurora wished that they had kept the picnic basket. She was starting to get peckish. 

Natsumi suddenly halted the group. "They're here! Look at that tree... doesn't it look a bit suspicious to you? I sense a large number of shadows below it. Oh, if only I could work out what types of shadows there are... I'm sorry..."

"No, don't apologise, Natsumi!" Aurora comforted her, "You've helped us a lot... without you, we would have no help on finding Koichi. We wouldn't even know where to look!"

Whilst they were talking, Ebizo inspected the tree. It wasn't like any other tree he'd seen before. For one, it was the largest tree he'd ever seen. There was a gap, hidden by some brambles. Not wanting to get pricked, he cast Agi, the flames quickly ridding the bramble bush.

"Come on, you two. We've got shadows to defeat!" Ebizo called out to them, "Looks like there's a hidden entrance in this tree after all. Koichi might be in here... and his parents."

"Natsumi, you might want to stay behind," Aurora warned her, "You said there was a group of shadows here. You might-"

"Wait!" interrupted Natsumi, "I was going to say... if there's a group of them, you might be better off using spells that target all enemies. For you two, it would be Maragi. It's kinda cute that you can both use fire spells!"

"Maragi... got it," nodded Ebizo, "Aurora, Natsumi, get ready. We don't know what we'll be dealing with. Prepare for the worst."

Heading in first, Ebizo crawled through the gap in the tree. It led to a ladder going down underground. The closer they got to the bottom, the louder the hushed voices got. Shadows. 

Ebizo hit the ground first. He kept his head low, sticking to the shadows. There was someone around the corner; he was sure of it. He signalled to Aurora and Natsumi to get ready for an attack. 

Altogether, the group jumped into the next room. It took a while for Ebizo to realise what he was looking at. There was a group of shadows, all dressed in animal-like outfits. They looked as young as them. Children.

They were dancing around someone in the middle of their circle. Ebizo could barely make them out, but it looked like they were tied up. 

The shadows were all speaking over each other:  
 _"It’s obviously a trap by Hook!”  
“Maybe it’s a new type of bird!”  
“What kind of bird is this?” _

“Hey!” Aurora called out to them, “What the heck are you doing? Get away from that... person and/or thing!” 

The shadows were alerted; they all turned to face the group before them. Ebizo still couldn’t make out what was behind them. They readied their weapons (although, Natsumi quickly explained that they would just fire spells at them, and not the actual weapons themselves) to attack.

“Aurora, quick! With me!” Ebizo hissed to the girl next to him, “Persona... Maragi!” 

Tsuki-Yomi was summoned. A light fire attack targeted the group of shadows in front of them, but it barely damaged them. 

“P-Persona-!” Aurora quickly reacted, summoning Brigit. “Maragi!” 

Once again, the fire attack didn’t do much to the shadows. They prepared a counter attack.   
_“Bufu!”_  
“Zio!”  
“Cleave!” 

Aurora and Ebizo were pelted with attack after attack. They were outnumbered. Even if their skills targeted all of the shadows, it wouldn’t be enough. They had to think of another idea.

Ebizo was next. He decided to take a different approach. “Pulinpa!” he cried, casting a confusion spell. 

One of the shadows was hit successfully. Aurora seemed to catch on - she had a confusion skill that she could use, too. 

Almost immediately, she cast it. “Pulinpa!” Her attack also hit another shadow. Two of them were successfully confused. 

When it came for their counterattack, Ebizo could only describe it as a domino effect. The two confused enemies attacked their respective allies. In response, their allies attacked them back. It was beautiful, in a way. They had tricked them into attacking each other.

One by one, the shadows perished. However, Ebizo was getting bored. He remembered the weapons he and Aurora had started to carry - they would finally come in handy.

Ebizo drew his katana and slashed at one of the shadows. It perished immediately. Aurora couldn’t help but to grin. She wanted to join in, too.

There was one shadow left. Aurora drew one of her knives and threw it at the shadow. Bullseye! It had hit the shadow straight in the chest. It quickly perished. 

She sighed in relief. “Media,” she mumbled, healing her and Ebizo up. Healing was the one thing Ebizo couldn’t do. It made her feel useful, in a way. 

With the shadows gone, they could finally see who - or what - they were guarding. Ebizo’s mouth fell open. Tied up was Koichi, his mouth gagged. His parents were nowhere to be seen.

Aurora rushes over to Koichi and untied him. Unsurprisingly, Koichi didn’t seem to have changed much. He was already very childlike before coming here. 

“E-Ebizo-! Aurora! What was... there were these things!” Koichi blurted out in between sobs, “My parents... some pirates took my parents! I tried to chase them, but the... lost boys... hah... what the... where are we? What was all of that? Is it magic?”

Lucky for Ebizo, Natsumi was ready and waiting to explain everything to the poor boy. It didn’t take much to get him to believe everything. After all, he had seen it happen before his very eyes. There was no use denying it. 

With Koichi saved and one group of shadows down, there was only one target left. The shadows in the water. Ebizo had a nagging feeling that they were these pirates that Koichi was crying about.


	9. The Ticking Crocodile

Ebizo let Aurora untie Koichi whilst being checked the area outside. Natsumi would take a while to explain everything, anyway. He was going to grow tired of explaining the same thing, over and over.

When he emerged from the tree, Ebizo was shocked to see the blue door of the velvet room, taunting him. He was sure that it wasn't there before. As he was contemplating this, Henry opened the door and stepped outside.

"Oh," he muttered, looking down at Ebizo's short stature. "You're... smaller than before. Almost as small as my sister! Ah, don't let her know I said that... anyways, you should come inside. If you need convincing, you should return back to normal once in the Velvet Room."

"Won't my friends realise I'm gone?" Ebizo asked him. An explanation wouldn't take that long.

"Relax! Time doesn't flow normally in there," Henry chuckled as he grabbed Ebizo's tiny arm. "Come on! We're not going to harm you, I promise!"

Ebizo didn't get time to argue. Henry pulled him inside the Velvet Room. His eyes took time to adjust to the sudden change in the environment. Looking down, he could see his hands were back to normal. Good. He was getting annoyed at his tiny hands.

The clock tower loomed before him. Unexpectedly, the clock had changed. Seven minutes past eleven. Fifty-three minutes to midnight. 

"So, you return," Igor chuckled, sitting in his chair as usual. "I thought it might interest you to do a tarot reading about your fate."

Henry spread out a set of tarot cards on the table in front of them. "I like this bit. It's one of the things I can actually do. Feeling lucky, Ebizo?"

Biting his lip, Ebizo picked a card and turned it over. The star. Once again, he looked up at Henry to see what it actually meant.

"The star represents hope. Well, that's one reading, but.. I say you've all got a bit of hope to keep you going," Henry smiled at him, "You'll get out of this. I promise you."

"Yeah, having my normal body back would be great. I hate having tiny hands." Ebizo grumbled, "It makes fighting with a weapon annoying. We have to use our personas, and that just makes us more tired..."

Henry reached into his pocket and took out a soma. "Here. Use this if you need it - or when you get back. I'm not going to give you free handouts every time, though," he said, giving the soma to Ebizo. 

"Thanks," Ebizo replied, "I better head back, now... my friends will need me, even if time doesn't pass in here or whatever." 

Stuffing the soma in his pocket, Ebizo bid farewell to Henry and Igor. When he stepped outside, he was reverted to his childlike form. He hated it. 

Aurora and the others joined him soon after. Natsumi and Koichi seemed more chipper than usual. Of course - a shadow that lived in this world and a teenaged boy that acted like a toddler would naturally accept the world they currently found themselves to be in. 

"I wonder... how did this happen?" Aurora thought out loud as they began to head off. "Last time, we thought it was due to that weird shack being supposedly 'haunted' as the rumours put it. What sort of rumours would lead to a park being turned into some sort of film?"

Koichi cleared his throat so he could speak. "Well... I wouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly. About the rumour stuff, I mean. Don't you remember the sign at the gate of the park? It said that no adults were allowed - well, to play on the climbing equipment, anyway. The Japanese is worded really badly for some reason... like they just translated it online. No adults are 'allowed' here. We were turned into children, so I think we're kinda lucky...!"

"Plus, the whole story of Peter Pan is a fairly well-known childhood story. Admittedly, I'd say that it was more popular in the West..." Aurora mumbled, "But I'd agree with Koichi here. We were certainly lucky."

"Yes, but what about his parents?" Ebizo frowned, reminding the group of their goal. "They're adults. What's going to happen to them?"

Natsumi held her arm out in front of Ebizo, stopping him in his tracks. "You should stop worrying everybody. Look - the Jolly Roger is right there, over near those rocks. I hope you're volunteering to row that boat over to them."

Ebizo looked down at the tiny row boat in front of them. There was four of them, and only one of him. He had tiny arms, too. Why did he have to row them over on his own?

"Um, I don't mean to cause any panic, too, but... they'll see us coming on our boat," Koichi pointed out, "And we don't have any life jackets to keep us safe. If Natsumi is a shadow or something, she might not know how to swim! This is really dangerous!"

"There's no other way. To save your parents, Koichi, we'll have to go into the belly of the beast," said Ebizo, "I wanna get this stupid sand out of my shoes, anyway... and our Personas will protect you two. We have our weapons, anyway! A katana and two knives!"

Aurora giggled and boarded the boat, gesturing for the others to do the same. "Come on, you lot! We'll be perfectly fine. We want to get out of here, don't we?" 

Natsumi jumped inside the boat and sat next to Aurora. "I like staying with you guys, but I wanna help you all the same. Besides... I don't like it when the other shadows act like this... it's like they don't know me. Of course they know me!"

When everyone had settled into the boat, Ebizo pushed it off of the sand and into the sea. He quickly climbed in, grabbing the oars and beginning to row the boat towards the Jolly Roger. Surprisingly, rowing the boat was easier than he expected. Turns out that Luethea didn't understand everything about their world.

"It was so weird, you know," Koichi began, eager to strike up a conversation whilst Ebizo was rowing the boat. "We were just playing in the park like normal... but then it started to rain. It was weird rain, too!"

"It was flowing upwards, right?" Aurora comforted him, taking his hand into hers. "Like we told you, Ebizo and I experienced the same thing."

"There was an earthquake, too!" Koichi exclaimed, "It was only a light shake, but it was an earthquake nonetheless. I was terrified... and then I woke up here. Those Lost Boys found me and tied me up once I went wondering. I thought I was dreaming."

"Yeah, well, I hope we can all wake up once we defeat this stupid shadow," grunted Ebizo as he spied on the Jolly Roger. "Uh. S-Speaking of... we're getting close. Let's hope they let us on board. I'd like to be able to strike up a conversation with them, at least."

Natsumi stood up on the boat (after a bit of a wobble) and faced the Jolly Roger. After a second or two, she started to wave dramatically. "Heyyyyy! We're looking for a couple of adults!"

Ebizo facepalmed. Now, they definitely knew they were here. A group of shadows dressed as pirates ran over to the side of the boat, eagerly pointing at them. 

"Captain! We're under attack!" They yelled, all readying their cutlasses. 

Aurora was expecting for a cutlass to be thrown at her. Instead, she was shocked to see a wind spell (specifically, garu) thrown at her. She screamed and dived down, knocking right into Natsumi. 

Ropes were thrown down to their tiny boat. Koichi screamed in unison with Aurora. Ebizo summoned his persona, firing an agi spell towards the nearest shadow. 

"W-We can't afford to fight them on here! We'll sink the boat!" Aurora yelled out, "Ebizo, please... for Natsumi's sake, at least. Surrender!"

Ebizo nodded and threw his hands up into the air. "Uh... take us to your leader!" he half-joked, hoping that the Captain was pleasant to talk to.

"T-To Captain Hook-?!" Koichi looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm not being sacrificed to a crocodile!"

The shadows jumped down onto their tiny boat and grabbed the four of them. They hoisted them up onto the Jolly Roger and tied them to one of the masts of the ship. Koichi was starting to get déjà vu. 

The captain's door opened to reveal the shadow of Captain Hook, his red coat flowing in the wind. Ebizo could tell that he was the master shadow they needed to defeat. 

"Well! I didn't realise we were gettin' some more visitors," he grinned, marching towards them. "You're part of Pan's plan, aren't you? Why don't you tell us where he is?!"

"P... Pan's plan?" Natsumi repeated. "Um. Sorry. Who's Pan? Is it an item? We only have measly weapons."

"Peter! Peter Pan!" Hook cried out, brandishing his hooked hand towards Natsumi. She could smell the alcohol in his breath. 

"We don't know Peter Pan-!" Aurora blurted out. "We were just trying to find Koichi's parents! They're supposed to be on this ship-"

Hook waved his good hand at some of the other shadows. They pulled a blanket off of something to reveal Koichi's parents, tied up and unconscious.

"I'll throw them overboard if you don't tell me. You give me what I want, and I'll give you those two freaks," Hook explained, his hook hand pointing towards Koichi's parents. "Do we have a deal?"

"We... we don't know where Pan is! Just keep them out of it!" Ebizo implored him, his wrists burning against the rope. 

Whilst they were arguing, Koichi's eyes were glued to his parents. He wanted to save them. Protect them. He needed to get them out of this mess. 

His eyes darted down to his own shadow. Unlike the others, it wasn't behaving normally. Despite the sun shining towards him, his shadow wasn't behind him. It was in front of him. Practically taunting him, even.

A voice whispered in his ear. _“He’s asking where Peter Pan is... don’t you see? Look at our shadow!”_

Koichi looked around to see where the voice was coming from. It was right in his ear, yet Aurora and Natsumi were next to him. He was sure that they didn’t talk. It wasn’t a female voice, was it?

_“I am thou... thou art I... call to me, kid! We need to show the Captain that messing with us isn’t a good idea!”_

His mouth fell open. His eyes widened. He could feel it. No wonder why Peter Pan hadn’t shown up. He was here all along.

“Persona... Pan!” Koichi yelled, sending a shockwave of electricity throughout the Jolly Roger. A boy in a green outfit appeared besides him and set the group free, cutting the ropes with a small dagger. 

“K-Koichi-! Is that... a persona?!” Natsumi gasped, leaping upwards. “It’s so cool! Uh, no offence to Aurora and Ebizo, of course-!”

Koichi and Pan turned towards Captain Hook. “I’ll fight you man to man, Captain!” The two of them said in unison. Pan was floating - rather, flying - next to Koichi. He had a small smirk on his face.

Captain Hook aimed his cutlass at Pan and snarled. “Stupid boy... I should’ve known this was another one of your stupid tricks! Well, it’s too bad! I’ve got an entire crew! Your silly little Lost Boys are nowhere in sight!”

“Oh, he’s got something better than the Lost Boys,” Aurora announced, summoning Brigit. “Ebizo and I have personas, too. On the contrary, you stand no chance against us!”

“If we win, you’ll let Koichi’s parents go,” demanded Ebizo, “If you win... well, you can do whatever.”

Hook pointed towards the sea. At first, Ebizo was confused. But then he heard it. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

A crocodile emerged from the cloudy waters. Accompanied with the annoying sound of a clock ticking. Maybe, if they used the crocodile, they could-

“I’ll feed you to that!” Hook taunted them, laughing maniacally. “Maybe that’ll finally get him away from me... once and for all! He’ll get a taste for you instead!”

Koichi nodded towards Aurora and Ebizo. They nodded back. The three of them were ready. Even if it meant risking their lives.


	10. Home Again

Natsumi glanced around the shadows surrounding the group and frowned. They were heavily outnumbered. "Um, guys? I have an idea... if we truly should fight Hook and Hook alone, we need to distract the other crew members," she pointed out, "I say we use your ailment skills to keep them distracted!"

Ebizo and Aurora nodded at each other. They both could confuse the enemy, making sure they would ignore Hook's commands. "Pulinpa!" They both commanded at the same time, Tsuki-Yomi and Brigit confusing some of the shadows. 

It was Koichi's turn next. The pirates naturally feared Pan, but it would only be made worse when inflicted with fear. "Persona... Evil Touch!" Koichi commanded, infecting the remaining shadows with fear. They quickly ran away, screaming about Pan. 

Hook scoffed and held up his cutlass. “Cowards, the lot of you! I won’t be so easily taken by a pesky trick... Lunge!” 

Aurora screamed as she barely avoided Hook’s cutlass. She was trying her hardest not to laugh that Hook, like the rest of them, still had to name his attacks. In his human form, she kept forgetting that he was a shadow.

“Koichi, what have you got?” Ebizo called out to his friend mid-dodge. “Aurora and I can do fire, dark or light attacks between us.”

Koichi looked towards Pan and nodded. “Um... nuclear and electric, I think. It’s all sort of new to me... but I’ll try my best!”

“Y-You better hurry-!” Aurora stuttered, slicing at Hook with one of her knives. She managed to take off a feather or two from his hat.

“Aha! Electric and nuclear, you say?” Natsumi called out from her safe spot on the deck above them. “It’s rare, but... if you manage to inflict shock with one of your electric attacks, you can do more damage with your nuclear attacks via technical damage. Just, uh... don’t use your weapons against him when he’s shocked, alright?”

Nodding, Koichi raised his arm. “Zio!” He cried, Pan dealing an electric attack towards Hook. To everyone’s surprise, he managed to inflict shock onto the enemy. 

Ebizo and Aurora quickly leapt in with their attacks whilst Hook was stunned. “Agi!” They, once again, cried in unison. The master shadow was struck once again with a double fire attack.

“Frei!” Exclaimed Koichi as he sent a nuclear attack hurtling towards Hook. Natsumi nodded in his direction, confirming that it did do more damage. He kind of wished there was a health bar placed above Hook’s head for times like this.

Now out of his shocked state, Hook turned his attention to Koichi. “Everything was perfectly fine before you turned up, Pan! We were going to feed those two strangers to that nasty croc... ugh! Cleave!” he grunted, swiping his cutlass at Koichi. It managed to slice open Koichi’s jumper, barely missing his skin.

“M-My Mommy made me that-!” Koichi protested, his eyes tearing up. “You... you won’t get away with this...!”

Pan appeared besides Koichi, despite not being summoned. _“He’s right, Hook! This won’t end until one of us is in that crocodile,”_ he vowed, _“That diving board of yours might come in handy for that...”_

“Th-They can talk like that-?” Aurora stuttered, gazing at Koichi’s persona. Admittedly, this should’ve been the least of her worries.

_“We didn’t want to interrupt you before,”_ Brigit said as she appeared besides Aurora, _“You were in the middle of things. We also didn’t want to scare you... but Pan has a more... um...”_

_“Obnoxious attitude,”_ Tsuki-Yomi agreed, appearing next to Ebizo. _“But he’s got the right idea, wouldn’t you agree?”_

Ebizo blinked for a few seconds before realising what Pan was hinting at. “Oh! Aurora! Ebizo! Fire! I mean... uh, let’s all attack at the same time, using physical skills!”

Aurora and Koichi didn’t exactly get the plan yet, but they went along with it anyway. “Lunge!” They all cried in unison, shoving Hook towards the plank. 

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The crocodile was looming near. They could almost taste Hook’s other hand. 

Hook’s eyes went wide as he peered down at the crocodile. “No, no, no!” He grumbled, swiping his cutlass at the three heroes in front of him.

The cutlass cut Ebizo’s arm, causing a light wound. Blood ran down his arm. It stung like hell. “A-Aurora, little help here...” he mumbled, holding his hand over his cut.

“O-Oh! Sorry!” Aurora apologised, summoning Brigit. “Dia... ouch, that looks like it hurt...”

Ebizo was able to breathe a sigh of relief as the pain went away. “Right! I’ve had enough with you, Hook,” he threatened, slamming his foot into the shadow’s shin. “Off to the crocodile with you!”

Koichi did the same to Hook’s other shin; muttering something or other about his jumper. It was enough to make Hook lose his balance, causing him to stumble back.

Only, there wasn’t anything to stumble back on. Hook fell backwards, the crocodile eagerly waiting for him. In one big gulp, they gobbled up Hook, whole.

“You did it!” Natsumi said, rushing down from her post. “This place should go back to normal soon... I’ll miss you guys. That was a lot of fun!”

Wanting to forget about the crocodile, Koichi rushed over to his parents and began to untie them. “Ah, it’s a good thing they weren’t conscious during all of this... I don’t know how I would explain it to them.” 

“You can say that again,” Ebizo commented, “Without the evil shadows, this place might look kinda nice, Natsumi. Won’t you miss it?”

Natsumi shook her head. “This isn’t home to me... with everything back to normal, I can see my friends again, as well as my master. I worry when she’s away... she has to hide away from the master shadows. They really don’t like her...”

“I’d love to meet her some time,” Aurora smiled at her, “But now, I guess we should take our leave... I hope this doesn’t happen again. I don’t want another Shi-”

Ebizo elbowed Aurora and gestured towards Koichi. He had no idea about that. Ebizo wanted to keep it that way. 

——

When they got out of Luethea, Ebizo’s immediate reaction was to scowl at the child harness that had reappeared on Koichi’s chest. His jumper was still torn, yet that stupid thing was still on him.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Koichi exclaimed, rushing towards his parents, both of which were now waking up. “I was so worried!”

Koichi’s mother rubbed her eyes. “Hm? What happened, Koichi-baby? Did we manage to fall asleep...?” she mumbled.

“I-It’s a good thing you had some friends to keep an eye on you-!” Koichi’s father grumbled, standing up and grabbing the end of Koichi’s harness. “If we lost you, I don’t know what I’d do...!”

“Are these your friends, sweetie? The ones you were telling us about?” Koichi’s mother asked him, glancing up at Ebizo and Aurora.

Koichi, seemingly okay with the harness, nodded. “Uh-hu! Koichi and Aurora! Aurore’s aaaaall the way from America. Isn’t that cool?”

“Yes,” Koichi’s father absentmindedly agreed, “But we really should be heading back... look at the time! I bet you’re starving, Koichi-baby!”

“I am,” Koichi whined, “I’m tired, too... I just wanna go home and take a nap. Um... bye-bye, you two. We’ll have to meet again before Golden Week is over.”

“I’m sure we will,” Aurora assured him, waving goodbye. “See you soon, Koichi. Don’t get into any trouble...”

Once they were gone, Ebizo turned to Aurora and frowned. “Panic over. I’m sure he won’t tell them... not like they’d believe him, anyway,” he hissed, “Now, I kinda wanna go home and take a nap to forget the whole harness thing...”

“Oh, stop it!” Aurora giggled, “You know he behaves like a child for a reason. They just don’t want their little boy to grow up, it seems.”

——

Now back at home, Ebizo flopped himself down on the couch. Aki was yapping at him like crazy. He turned the TV on just to give him something to watch in the background.

_“Yet another earthquake in Jansaai! This one, a 2.3. Could this spell a larger earthquake in store?”_ The newscaster said, _“Let us know if you felt the shake!”_

“Oh, that stupid earthquake!” Suzue complained, placing down a washing basket near Ebizo. “Aki wouldn’t stop barking! Your brother and I had to take him on an early walk to calm him down.”

“Where’s dad?” Ebizo asked her, although he knew what her response was going to be. 

“At work,” sighed Suzue, “They’re scrambling to find any leads on that poor boy’s death... I don’t even know when he’s coming home, or if he’s eating! It doesn’t help that your sister refuses to go outside. It’s Golden Week! She should be outside, playing with her friends!”

“The cheerleaders? I thought they just went around town,” Ebizo claimed, remembering passing by some blonde-haired girls in a coffee shop. “Don’t you think they’re a bad influence on her? She even dyed her hair because of that lot.”

“I know, the school’s been emailing me about that,” Suzue frowned, “How am I supposed to know that her doing that was against the rules? I don’t see the problem.”

“It’s... uh, never mind,” Ebizo shook his head, once again stunned by the lack of knowledge his mother had. “I’m going up to my room. Call me when the food is ready.”

Ebizo trotted up to his room and opened the door. Immediately, his mouth fell open. Inside was the door to the Velvet Room - with Henry lazing about on his bed, reading a child’s book.

“Oh. Hi,” Henry waved nonchalantly, “Let myself in. You have a lot of children’s books for someone that’s... not a child.”

“What are you doing?” Ebizo hissed at him, closing the door. “Someone could’ve seen you! How would I explain you to anyone in my family? You’re luck- look, those books are my brother’s, okay? He doesn’t have enough room to keep them in his room.”

“Sure, sure,” Henry said dismissively, “I see you lot managed to get out of that child’s world. You gained a new party member, too... such fun!”

“It’s not ‘fun’,” he pointed out, “We could’ve died. Do you not worry about that? Or will you heroically save me at the last minute?”

“I’m... really not supposed to intervene,” Henry admitted, “But... don’t tell my master I said this - I could do it. As a... favour to an old friend.”

“Yeah, it’s not fun when you confuse me, either,” groaned Ebizo, “My point is, you can’t just randomly pop up like this. At least ask before you barge into my room and start reading my brother’s books.”

Henry opened the front page of one of the books and pointed to a name that quite clearly read ‘Ebizo’ in a child’s handwriting. 

“Hand-me-downs!” Ebizo retorted, “When there’s three kids, things are bound to be handed down, okay?”

“Okay, okay!” Henry chuckled, “I’ll stop, I swear. It’s not often that I get to see this world. Just wanted to check up on you, make sure that you’re okay... I would’ve called you, but your phone is low battery.”

Ebizo glanced down at his phone. Henry was right. He put it on charge. 

“You need to be careful, Ebizo,” Henry instructed, suddenly getting serious. “There’s more at stake here than you realise. Your safety is vital to fighting back against the master shadows.”

“I’m not... look, those stupid shadows aren’t that strong,” Ebizo shrugged, “We can take any of them down easily.”

“Yet. They’re not strong, yet.” Henry warned him, “You have yet to meet another enemy of theirs. Shadows with similar faces to ones you have seen before. I’m afraid I don’t know when exactly they’ll show their familiar faces...”

“You’re worrying me, Henry...” Ebizo frowned, “There’s more enemies out there? Please, speak in a language I understand, for once. Not these... riddles.”

Henry shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t say anymore. I really must be going. Oh, but,” he grabbed a pile of books off the floor and grinned. “I’m taking these. Bye!”

Before Ebizo could protest, Henry had exited through the door to the Velvet Room. The door quickly disappeared, leaving Ebizo in his room, alone again.


	11. Justice Arcana

Once Golden Week had ended, Ebizo could barely drag himself out of his bed. Why did he have to go back to school? Couldn't he just stay at home?

When he sunk into his school desk, Koichi and Aurora gave him a thumbs-up. For once, their teacher, Mr. Haraki was there on time. He seemed to be in the same state as Ebizo was... only worse.

"Mm. Today... today, it's about," Mr. Haraki started, struggling to get his words out. "Your exams that are starting soon! Did I... forget to mention that before the holiday?"

The class groaned. He did.

"Hey, hey! Today we're talking about famous novels," Mr. Haraki exclaimed, doing his best to keep control of the class. "Okay... Ebizo. Who was the author that wrote the book, Peter Pan?"

Ebizo flinched at his name being called. Funny. They had just came back from Neverland. "Uh... Barrie. J. M. Barrie," he told him. Akoto may or may not have whispered the answer to him. 

"That's right. Well done, Ebizo," Mr. Haraki applauded him, "The book has been adapted into various plays and films over the years... I hear they're remaking it again soon. I hope they don't miss out the songs this time... my kid adores the songs."

One boring lecture later, Ebizo and his friends sat down at the cafeteria. He was surprised to see that his sister, Kinuya, wasn't at the centre table. Maybe she was doing homework or something.

"So, did you guys do anything exciting over the holiday?" Akoto asked the group. She was snacking on an orange.

"Uh... nothing too exciting," Aurora replied, holding back a giggle. "What about you, Akoto? Anything fun?"

Akoto shook her head. "I just stayed home and... studied. Thanks to our helpful teacher, I didn't know when exams were starting, so I prepared for the worst," she said.

"My mommy knit me a new sweater!" Koichi said with glee, standing up so everyone could take a look. "My last one got torn... it was really sad."

"She still can't get your size right, huh?" Ebizo chortled, noticing the oversized sweater once again. Aurora punched his arm playfully.

"I still can't believe they haven't solved Shinsui's murder yet, though," Akoto frowned heavily. "I've seen this like, kid roam around lately. He seems to be working with the police... but he's just a kid!"

"Yeah... that's Juichi," Ebizo grumbled, "My dad has had a few... dealings with him. People say he's a prodigy. Like, the third Detective Prince. I think they're only helping fuel his massive ego."

"Oh, sounds like someone didn't have a fun time," Aurora chuckled, "He's probably just worried about disappointing everyone. There's a lot of expectations placed upon someone so young."

"He still doesn't have to be a dick about it," argued Ebizo, "I feel sorry for my dad sometimes... I'd hate to be around a guy like that."

——

Once his last class was finished and the day was over, Ebizo headed outside. He waved goodbye to his friends. His feet were a metre away from the school gates, when he heard an English song blasting nearby.

_"♪Shyness is nice and shyness can stop you  
From doing all the things in life you'd like to♪"_

He turned his heel and saw Perrie Embra, a student in his class. Perrie was sitting on a picnic blanket, doodling and listening to the music on their speaker. Out loud. Ebizo could never have that confidence.

_"♪So if there's something you'd like to try  
If there's something you'd like to try♪"_

Ebizo walked up to his classmate and flashed a grin. "Nice music," he yelled over the speaker, "Not listening to J-Pop, huh?"

_"♪Ask me, I won't say 'no'  
How could I?♪"_

Perrie looked up at Ebizo and turned their music off. "Sorry," they mumbled, "Did I interrupt your thinking?"

"No... I was just wondering what you were listening to," Ebizo replied, sitting down next to them. "I've never heard music like that before..."

"Ah... it's The Smiths. Ask. They're an English band. Although, they're disbanded now. The translation of most of their lyrics is... quite morbid for the tune," Perrie told him, "My parents listened to them a lot when they travelled to Manchester, so I kinda picked them up, too."

"Oh? They travelled a lot, huh?" Ebizo questioned them further, curious. "Sounds like a lot of fun."

"Yes... they're archaeologists, although they're retired now," Perrie admitted, "I spent most of my youth travelling the world. It was... annoying to study on a plane, to say the least."

"Still... you must listen to some sort of J-Pop!" Ebizo cried. He admittedly didn't listen to much J-Pop himself, but Perrie didn't need to know that.

Perrie nodded. "Of course I do," they refuted, turning on their speaker. "Ah, here's a popular one... it's by Kiria. Reincarnation!"

_"♪I'm breaking down  
All the walls I've built up around my lonely heart now  
You're the one that takes it all away♪"_

Leaning in closer to the speaker, Ebizo studied the lyrics. He could recall Kinuya listening to the singer at some point.

_"♪My solitude and all my pain  
Reincarnation, realisation  
Reincarnation, I want to disappear♪"_

Turning off the speaker, Perrie turned to Ebizo. "See? I have a taste for music that isn't just in English," they chuckled.

"Alright, fine," Ebizo agreed, "Any other amazing bands that I'm missing out on because I can only speak Japanese?"

Perrie clicked their tongue and turned their speaker on again. "Hmm... what about Gorillaz? Another English band. This one's called Humility."

_"♪I'm the lonely twin, the left hand  
Reset myself and get back on track♪"_

Ebizo glanced over to Perrie. They seemed to be distracting themselves even more by doodling random squiggles.

_"♪I don't want this isolation  
See the state I'm in now?♪"_

This time, Ebizo turned off the speaker. "Hey. You don't have to keep putting songs on to distract me," he stated, "I can tell that something is up with you. Is this about-"

"How do you know about that?" Perrie snapped, glaring at Ebizo. 

"Uh... my dad's working the case," he told them, "Plus, there's rumours in school about it. How you... found Shinsui."

Perrie sat up and stared at the ground before them. "I... I was listening to a song at the time. Just walking home after staying behind to do some online homework, you know?" They quivered, "I didn't even realise he was... dead, at first..."

"I know he was the school bully, but he didn't deserve to die for it," acknowledged Ebizo, "If you ever wanna talk about your feelings and stuff, you can talk to me. Or... I dunno, Aurora. She's good with that stuff too."

"I know the body could've been in a worse state, too. I'm aware of that," Perrie sighed, "I found out later that all of the bruises were just from an impact after his death. Maybe someone just threw him on the roof of that shack for fun? I dunno..."

Ebizo's eyes widened. "What? The bruises were the worst thing? Then how did he-" he stopped himself before he could possibly traumatise Perrie anymore.

"I don't care," Perrie simply replied, "Either way, they haven't solved it yet. I've travelled everywhere with my parents, and yet I've never seen anything as weird as that. They can't even find out who did it."

"My dad's been stressing about it... he hasn't been coming back from work until late," he complained, sitting back. "Between you and me, I don't think they're gonna find the killer. It's a bit... out of this world."

"Wow, that helps me soooo much, Ebizo," they groaned, "Oh, uh... I mean it. Talking about this stuff... normalises it. Helps me come to terms with things. Rather than just drowning my thoughts out with the help of music."

"We can continue to listen to music if you want to," Ebizo asked them, "You seem to be more relaxed when doing so. Come on, I'll listen."

Perrie smiled softly and turned their speaker on. "Alright... I'll put something on that you might be more familiar with," they chuckled, "Butterfly... I always liked this one.”

_"♪I'll become a happy butterfly, and ride on the glittering wind  
I'll come to see you soon♪"_

Ebizo felt like he had heard his little brother play this before on the TV. Perhaps it was a theme song for something he liked to watch.

_"♪It's best to forget the unnecessary things  
There's no more time to be fooling around♪"_

As they listened to the music, a tarot card formed above Perrie's head. It was the Justice arcana. At that moment, Ebizo made a promise to himself and Perrie. He would stop what caused Shinsui's death, once and for all.

——

Juichi Rakuyama stormed into Teiko Kagami’s office, shocked to see her still working. Whilst she worked at Interpol, she had recently been grounded to desk work and staying in Japan. He knew exactly why.

Teiko greeted him, wearing a pouffier shirt than normal. To be exact, it was like a mini pouf dress, extended out above her chest to hide her stomach. She had only recently started to wear it.

“You wanted to see me?” He asked her, sitting down at the chair opposite. Earlier that day, Teiko had called him to visit, regarding ‘something important’. 

“It’s nice of you to come,” Teiko smiled softly. “Juichi... I’ve heard about your investigation. How it’s... not going great.”

Juichi had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. How the hell did she know that it was on the verge of becoming a cold case? “That’s... not false,” he admitted.

“I spoke to Monty about it,” she continued, “He agreed that you needed some help. Now, at first, he was against me personally helping you out. But, being the only person here with next to no cases, he had no choice but to assign me to your case.”

“H-Huh? You’re... going to help me?” Juichi repeated, in shock. “No, no... Teiko, you-”

“Please don’t be like the others. I already got a lecture from them,” Teiko said sternly, “‘You shouldn’t be out in your condition!’ ‘Leave it up to us guys!’ Monty is bad enough-!”

“No, I didn’t mean... look,” Juichi began, “It’s a tough case. Even I don’t know if we’ll find anything else. They ended up dropping the only two suspects we had. Because, you know, one of them is the son of one of the detectives.”

“Perhaps they need someone like me to talk to them!” Teiko grinned, “Trust me, I’ve solved cold cases before. And this one is still fairly new - we owe it to the deceased and his family to solve it.”

“Mmph... okay, fine,” Juichi finally crumbled. He was supposed to look good in front of Teiko, of all people, too. Great. “You win. But the minute you start throwing up-”

“I’m not going to throw up!” Teiko exclaimed, “You should have some faith in me... I’m stronger than I look. I mean it.”

He knew why she was doing it. She had practically made that clear in what she had said to him. Still, if it was to one-up Monty, her stupid husband, he would do anything. 

“I can introduce you to the team tomorrow, then,” he grinned, “They’ll like the new addition to the team. Maybe we can teach them a thing or two... since they refuse to listen to me.”

“Oh?” Teiko smirked, leaning back in her chair. “I see... I had thought that might’ve been the case. Your age doesn’t help, does it? Add that on with your lack of experience...”

“Yeah... it really doesn’t,” Juichi admitted, “I just... I want to be as good as her, you know? She was the smart one...”

“You will be as good as her, Juichi,” Teiko comforted him, “Trust me. I see her in you everyday. You’re making her proud. Me, too...”

Juichi nodded slowly. Yeah. Proud. That’s what he was doing this all for, anyway.


	12. Moon Arcana

It was exam day. Nobody was looking forward to it. Aurora, Koichi, Akoto and Perrie were all sitting in the classroom with the rest of their classmates. Koichi leaned over to Ebizo.

"Hey... wanna come round mine after school and play?" He whispered to him, "I have some things I want to talk about... about-"

Before Koichi could finish his sentence, Mr. Haraki entered the room carrying a pile of exam papers. "Alright, everyone. Exam conditions from now on," he announced to the class.

Ebizo rolled his head back and tried to think about his after school plans. Perhaps Koichi just wanted to ask more about Luethea. That had to be it, right? Maybe at the same time, he could teach Koichi that they call it 'hang out' and not 'play' anymore.

Once the day of exams had finished, Koichi grabbed Ebizo's hand and dragged him away. "My mommy and daddy are waiting outside for us!" He chirped. He was the only person in the entire school who's parents still picked him up after school. And took him to school.

"Uh, what do your parents do, again?" Ebizo asked him, curious at how his parents always managed to meet up with him. 

"They have their own business, so they have their own hours," Koichi explained, "They make clothes for children! Like this sweater my mother makes for me... oh, but we'll be swapping to our summer uniform soon. She'll be a little upset that I won't be able to wear my sweater anymore."

Ebizo waved awkwardly to Koichi's parents. After they had kissed and hugged their son, they let the two of them walk ahead a little. It seemed like they were both doing well, despite the horror that had happened to them.

Koichi showed Ebizo his pocket mirror - the one used for summoning their personas. "I found this... I can see Pan in it. Do you and Aurora have one, too?" He asked them.

"Yeah... you break the mirror to summon them," Ebizo told him, "But sometimes they come out naturally. You haven't told your parents about any of this, have you?"

"No... of course not," Koichi replied as they rounded the corner to his street. "They'd think it was one of my games, anyway... they wouldn’t believe me for a second.”

Eventually, they arrived at Koichi's home. Before his parents could ask Ebizo anything, Koichi led him upstairs. He muttered something about them hovering around them if not.

Ebizo walked past an opened door to see a baby's room, crib and everything. For a split second, he was scared that it was Koichi's room. Luckily, he walked past it.

"Hm? What's wrong, Ebizo?" Koichi asked his friend as he saw him standing in the doorway. "My room's this way... further down the hallway.”

"Your parents expecting or something?" Ebizo gestured to the baby's room. "I don't see a baby... and it's not your room. Please say it’s not your room. I’ll be very... Uh, disappointed.”

"Oh... no," Koichi took a deep breath. "That's... that's would be my sister's room. She was born two years before me.”

"I didn't know you had a sister... and if she's older than you, why does she have a baby's room like this?" Ebizo frowned. "She's older than you! Hopefully, you don’t have a cot-!”

"She... she, um, went missing," he mumbled in reply, a miserable look on his face. "When she was a baby... my parents went to set up a baby swing, leaving her sitting in her pram, just a few metres away. But when they finished setting it up, they turned back to see her... gone. When they went to the police, no one could find her. A search party searched for weeks. It’s a sad story...”

"Gone?" Ebizo repeated, "But she was so close. How did someone manage that? This isn’t exactly a big city.”

"They don't know," Koichi sighed. "It's why they're so protective of me. They don't wanna lose me... they keep my sister's room the same to remember her. I think they're still hoping she'll come back."

"I hope she won't mind sleeping in a cot," joked Ebizo, "It's a nice thing to do, though. I had no idea that a baby went missing in a small place like this. It seems like such a safe place... Uh, until all of this shadow stuff happened."

"Well, we'll sort it out, won't we?" Shrugged Koichi as he led Ebizo into his room. "I hope so. I don't want anyone else getting hurt, like my parents."

Ebizo was hardly surprised at Koichi's room. Toys and dolls were strewn across the floor. Posters were educational, showing the times tables, instead of shows or games. It was like walking into a different planet.

Grinning, Koichi sat down on the floor and held up a toy robot. "Wanna play, Ebizo? I have some Phoenix Ranger Featherman R toys. Do you watch that show?" He asked him.

"I used to... I think my brother still watches it," he replied, "Listen, Koichi... is this really what you want to do? I do this sort of thing with my brother when my mom is busy...”

"Of course I want to do this!" Koichi argued, "I don't really have any friends to play with... I-I thought... especially if you play this with your brother...!"

Immediately, Ebizo regretted his words. He forgot that Koichi struggled to find a single friend due to his childish nature. His persona was Pan, after all. No one would want to play with him.

"Alright... I'll play with you, Koichi," Ebizo said with a smile. "Just... don't tell anyone, especially Aurora, okay? I can’t have this getting out. It’ll be an embarrassment.”

"You got it!" Koichi nodded excitedly. "Okay, so, I'm gonna be the red, green, and pink one... which means that you can be...”

As Koichi was explaining his rules, a tarot card floated above his head. The moon arcana. Ebizo simply ignored it and looked back at Koichi. He was used to this weirdness now.

——

He was yawning by the time he got back home. For once, his entire family was home. Tasuku was munching on some udon noodles. Suzue and Taijo were cuddling on the sofa. Ebizo assumed that Kinuya was upstairs.

"Ebizo's home!" Tasuku cheered in time with Aki's barks. "Mommy! Daddy! Look!”

Ebizo patted Aki on the head and turned his attention to Tasuku's noodles. Grabbing a fresh pair of chopsticks, he stole one of his noodles and gobbled it up. 

"Mommy! Ebizo stole one of my noodles!" Tasuku called him out, as expected. He still had loads of noodles left. Why was he complaining?

"Leave your brother alone, Ebizo," Taijo reprimanded, "Your mother tells me you were at a friend's today. Was that Aurora?"

"No, it was someone new... kid called Koichi," replied Ebizo, sitting opposite his parents.

"Oh, I know him!" Suzue grinned. "He's the toddler boy. His parents treat him like a three-year-old. Tasuku and I have seen him at the park."

"What a weird way to raise a child," Taijo commented, "You look confused, Ebizo. Surprised I'm home, huh? That makes three of you.”

"You could say that!" Ebizo exclaimed, "You're usually not home until much later. How come you're home so early?"

"There's a new investigator joining the team," he explained, "Some interpol girl. Apparently, she's good friends with that kid detective. I bet he wanted her help, so he begged her... or something. But if it means I can spend more time at home, I'm not complaining."

“Neither am I!” Suzue chimed in, “Everyone is excited about it! Oh, but I don’t think Kinuya knows... she’s been in her room ever since she came back from school. Ebizo, be a darling and check on her, will you?”

To be honest, Ebizo was concerned about Kinuya, too. When she wasn’t downstairs, she was usually with the cheerleaders. Recently, she had abandoned her cheerleader friends and kept herself to her room. He needed to investigate.

He headed upstairs and knocked on the door to Kinuya’s room. “Hey, Kin? Mom wanted me to check up on you,” he told her, “I know you’ve been taking Shinsui’s death pretty hard... is there anything I can do to help?”

Kinuya opened the door slightly. He could just see her clothes - a baggy tracksuit. “Tell mom I’ll have a miso soup,” she replied, “I just want to be left alone.”

“It’s no use locking yourself away like this,” he pressed, “You’ll just make yourself worse. Why don’t you go to the gym with Chieko? You used to like doing that.”

For once, Kinuya seemed to be considering his offer. “I-I do still have my gym membership... I have to get my money’s worth,” she wondered out loud, “But I don’t want to see Chieko. I’ll go on my own.”

“You have been sitting away from the group lately. I haven’t seen you eat at all, I don’t think,” frowned Ebizo. “I mean, I didn’t see you eat much before then. You always ate cotton balls. Please say you’ve stopped doing that-”

“O-Only because mom found out I was doing it,” huffed Kinuya, “She kept saying how it was no good for me... so she gave me some fattening beef curry. I’ve put on weight since then-! She’s fattening me up!”

“N-No she isn’t-!” Ebizo cried out in shock. Kinuya was thin enough. Why would she want to be thinner? “She just wanted you to be healthy, Kin! Cotton balls dipped in orange juice aren’t food! And don’t think I haven’t seen you throwing up your food, either-”

“Don’t you dare tell mom!” Kinuya glared at him. “She’ll just fatten me up even more! How can I be a cheerleader if I can’t move my fat body?!”

Ebizo couldn’t believe this conversation. He didn’t understand a single thing Kinuya was saying. So he just sighed and walked away. 

What could he do to help her? 

——

In Luethea, Natsumi was running to meet with her master. She couldn’t move much. She was weak. But soon, she would be free. 

Her master extended out her arms and wrapped Natsumi into a tight hug. “My dear,” she smiled. Her long hair was flowing unnaturally. There wasn’t a breeze in Luethea. “What did our little mole say?” 

“They don’t suspect a thing,” Natsumi replied, hugging her master back. “The mole doesn’t suspect a thing, either. I believe they’re growing stronger... soon, you will be free.”

“Free to walk into their world... I can hardly wait,” she said with glee, “It has been so long since I’ve seen my child... you remind me of them, Natsumi. The glint in your eye...”

“I know you’ll see them again. You will!” Natsumi encouraged her, “I want to meet them, too... do you think they’ll like me?”

“Of course!” She exclaimed, “Mm, but remember what I told you. If you see a boy with platinum hair-”

“Yeah, yeah... I must tell you immediately,” Natsumi pouted. She had been told this multiple times. “Platinum hair is very rare...”

“If you see anyone with platinum hair,” her master corrected, “You are right. It is very rare. There’s a certain group of... things... that have that colour hair. And I’m not talking about regular, disgusting humans, as much as they try to disguise themselves. Their appearance is like yours. Humanoid.”

“But I’m not a very good human!” Natsumi chuckled. “Most shadows are humanoid. I can see how someone might get confused. But humans don’t have wings... or really large tongues.”

“Mm, they’re not very unique, are they?” She sighed. “If they’ve done anything to my child... they will pay. They mean everything to me. It’s what it’s all been for... Mm. But you’ve been a good child to me, Natsumi. You’ll support me until the end... won’t you?”

Natsumi nodded instantly. “Yes,” she agreed, “I’ll do whatever you say... it was you that saved me. How could I ever betray your trust?”


	13. Don’t Look Back

Ebizo was sitting on the sofa, watching TV. It was a lazy day. Tasuku was sitting nearby, nicking his chips. He was pretty sure the chips was the only reason Tasuku was sitting with him. 

From behind them, Suzue bent down and took a chip for herself. "You two should be more like Kinuya," she said, "She's outside, going to the gym today. Don't you two wanna play outside?"

"I just wanna eat chips," Tasuku responded with a bunch of chips in his mouth. "I can play outside when there's no chips left."

He was surprised that Kinuya actually took up his suggestion of going to the gym. Going outside would be good for her, right? It would be better than simply staying in her room all day.

Their crunching from eating the chips was covered up by another noise, though. For the last ten minutes, Aki had been unable to sit still. He was restless, whimpering and barking every five seconds. Suzue was trying her best to calm him, but to no avail. 

As Tasuku finished the last chip, Ebizo noticed that the cutlery on the nearby table had began to shake. Ever so slightly, he could feel the ground shake. It was an earthquake. Please say it was a normal one.

After a few seconds, the earthquake finished. Suzue leaned over. "Are you two okay?" She asked them, "At least it was only a minor one... I wonder if the others are okay..."

Their worrying was interrupted by the sound of Ebizo's phone ringing. He glanced at the number - it was Kinuya. Quickly, he answered his phone.

_"Ebi... rain... quake,"_ Kinuya mumbled through the heavy static. Ebizo had never heard so much static before. What was going on? _"Hel... ko... gym-"_

The line cut out. Kinuya had lost service. Sure, the service around here wasn't that great, but they had never had a problem like this before. Wait, unless...

"I'm going out!" Ebizo announced to the room, jumping up off the sofa. "I'll be back... later! With Kinuya!"

"Um... sure, honey," Suzue frowned, slightly confused. "Make sure she eats something before she comes back, okay? Get her a snack."

Ebizo nodded and ran outside. He pulled out his phone and sent a message to the newly-created   
'shadow gang' groupchat. This was urgent. They had no idea what would happen if a portal to Luethea was left unchecked. 

——

When Ebizo finally got there, Aurora and Koichi were both waiting for him. They did live closer to the gym - and for some smart reason, he had decided to run all the way there. No wonder why he was so out of breath. 

Whilst he was catching his breath, he stared at the monstrosity in front of them. There was a small crowd forming. The gym had practically been scraped from the ground itself. A lone mirror stood in the middle.

"That must be the portal," Aurora hissed, "I don't think anyone else can see it, though... huh. How odd. We should get in there and fix all of this before news reporters get here."

"Yeah... if my parents saw me here on TV, I think they'd kill me," Koichi chuckled nervously. "They think I'm taking a nap right now. Let's keep it that way..."

"Alright... we're going to make a run for it," Ebizo told the others, "Aurora, care to make a distraction for us? Yell or something."

Aurora nodded and pointed away from them. "Oh my gosh! What the hell is that over there?!" She cried out, alerting everyone in the vicinity. At the same time, the three of them ran towards the mirror, entering Luethea.

To no one's surprise, Natsumi was waiting for them on the other side. She waved to them excitedly. "Hey, guys! You'll never guess what happened this time!" She began, "There was quite a few people pulled in this time. They're, like... all on these machines? They're not allowed to come off..."

"Hmm... well, a gym is typically seen as a way to get fit," Aurora wondered aloud, "Maybe they're not allowed to stop until they get 'fit?' Kind of reminds me of a sweatshop."

"This isn't good," Ebizo grumbled, "Kinuya is stuck in here somewhere... Natsumi, I need you to find her for me. She's my sister. We don't know what will happen to her if she's left in here for too long."

Natsumi nodded and pointed towards the gym's doors. "Alright, we may have to deal with some security guards... aka shadows. But it's nothing new. I'll do my best in trying to find her... it's a good thing you two smell similar!" She chuckled.

Ebizo did his best to forget the last comment as the group moved through the transformed gym. Every room they passed was like a torture chamber. Whilst Natsumi explained that not everyone here was an 'actual person' (instead, they were cognitive beings), it still didn't make it much better.

For example, in one room was a row of exercise bikes. The people inside had to keep pedalling. If they stopped, they would be greeted with an electric shock. 

Koichi glanced at the electricity coming out of the bikes and sighed. "Looks like they're powering the facility... I've seen it on TV before," he explained, "It's like when you make someone run in a hamster wheel so you can power things. But what's the point, if just to keep the lights on?"

"I... don't think there's any point in finding sense in Luethea, Koichi," Aurora commented, "I wonder if anyone else we know got sucked in here, though? And I don't see anyone in charge nearby..."

"I'm sure we'll run into some giant shadow at some point," Ebizo shrugged. "I'm more worried about Kinuya right now... maybe we’ll kill two birds with one stone, though.”

"I think we're almost there," Natsumi whispered, gesturing to a door in front of them. "I sense someone with a similar smell in here... Mm, but there's two of them..."

"Two?" Ebizo scoffed, "You're probably just adding me into your, uh... sniffs. I know for a fact that only Kinuya and I are in here, not anyone else in my family."

He took a deep breath and opened the door. They were immediately greeted with the sight of Kinuya on a treadmill, visibly out of breath. Next to her was another Kinuya, holding a whip. Two Kinuya's. And Ebizo thought this couldn't get any worse.

"K-Kinuya-!" Ebizo cried out, rushing towards her. "Uh... what... what's going on here? Which one of you is...?"

The Kinuya with a whip turned to face Ebizo. The only thing wrong with her was her shining yellow eyes. That wasn't Kinuya. "Get outta here, brat!" The fake Kinuya demanded, "I'm trying to make her less fat... this is the only way of doing it!"

"What are you?" Koichi questioned her, "What are you doing to Ebizo's sister...?!"

"I am a shadow... the true self," Shadow Kinuya muttered, "I'm just helping her out. This is what she wants... to be thin. After all, she's the fattest second-year around!"

"Th-That's not true-!" Aurora gasped. "Kinuya, listen to me... you're perfectly fine the way you are! Sure, with me, my shoulders don't match my hips... but I don't let that hold me back. I'm happy with the way I look now... you should be, too."

Kinuya gasped for air, unable to respond. The treadmill showed no signs of slowing down. Anyone else would've given up by now.

"Persona! Tsuki-Yomi!" Ebizo called out to his persona, "Quick, grab Kinuya for me... y-you can do that, right? Please say that you can.”

Tsuki-Yomi burst forth and leapt towards Kinuya. They grabbed Kinuya using their tail, and carried her off of the treadmill. Kinuya practically collapsed onto the floor when Tsuki-Yomi let her go.

Natsumi signalled for the group to stay back. "Wait. If we provoke her shadow, she'll attack," she explained, "Kinuya, you have to accept it... do you hear me?"

Kinuya looked up at Natsumi, in a daze. "H-Huh? What... me? Why would I... hurt myself like that...?" She mumbled. 

"That's what you're doing to yourself by not eating properly, Kin," Ebizo bent down and hugged his sister. "Don't you see? Like Aurora said... you're not fat, I promise. No matter what you see in the mirror. Mom would say the same."

Shadow Kinuya pointed her whip towards Kinuya. “He’s lying! You know you’re as fat as ever, Kin! Why, what would your best friend say if she saw you now, hmm?” She taunted, gesturing towards the door behind her. “I wasn’t going to show her until later, but... if this is how it’s going to be, then so be it.”

The door in front of them opened to reveal Chieko, dazed and confused. She stumbled out into the room and looked around with wide eyes. “What... the hell is going on?” She asked no one in particular, “Kin-Kin, is there two of you-?! You didn’t tell me you were born as a triplet!”

“Chieko!” Kinuya gasped, finding the strength to stand. “Stay away from her! You’ll just get hurt! She... she’s not me!”

“No!!” Natsumi yelled, turning her attention towards Shadow Kinuya. “No, no, no! Everyone, get back! It’s going to go berserk...!”

Shadow Kinuya laughed manically. “Ha! I am you! I’ll show you the truth... starting with your best fiend!” She melted into a puddle before reforming into a giant blob of a shadow. It still kept some of Kinuya’s features, like her blonde hair. 

Chieko gasped as it swiped one of it’s arms, aiming to knock her over. Kinuya screamed and ran towards Chieko, absorbing the hit for her. She was knocked away, hitting her head against the wall.

“Kinuya-!” Ebizo cried out in anger, running over to her. “Aurora! Heal her, now! I can see blood... shit!”

“D-Diarama-!” Aurora stuttered, summoning her persona. “Natsumi, what do we do now?! I don’t want to hurt Kinuya...! Will attacking that... thing... hurt her?”

“We’ll just have to calm her down... by attacking her,” Natsumi told them, “Uh, the shadow version, I mean. Not the actual Kinuya, of course! It won’t hurt the actual Kinuya, I promise.”

Whilst the group got ready for a fight, Chieko stared down at Kinuya. They had gotten into a falling out recently over Shinsui. Why did she decide to save her? 

_“Don’t worry, we won’t go down without a fight... we’ll have to treat these disgusting beings a lesson. Isn’t that right?”_

She whirled around. That was weird. There was a voice in her head, and it wasn’t hers. Why was there a throbbing pain in her head?

“P-Persona... Lilith!” Chieko called out, summoning her Persona. The sudden appearance of one surprised the group; Koichi covered his eyes at first, due to the lack of clothing on this new Persona.

_“I am thou, thou art I... call to me. For I am Lilith, here to save all of you troubled souls,”_ her Persona, Lilith, spoke, _“Let us waste no time in defeating this monstrosity!”_

“N-No way-!” Koichi gasped dramatically. “Chieko got a Persona?! Does... does that mean we have to hang out with her now...? Oh, no. I don’t like the middle table.”

“Shut up!” Chieko hissed at him, “I don’t entirely understand it, but... we have to save Kin-Kin! And that begins with defeating this stupid copy!”

“Looks like it’s weak to Psy skills,” Natsumi quickly analysed the shadow, dodging an attack. “Um, Lilith has those skills... heh, good thing we have you, miss...?”

“It’s Chieko,” she corrected her, “Ebi-Ebi, I want that girl out of here alive... and that goes for all the others trapped in this stupid gym, too! It’s ridiculous - utterly ridiculous how we all got pulled into here!”

“You can say that again,” Ebizo chuckled. “I’m sure we’ll be able to save everyone, especially with a new team member... but, anyway! Everyone! Don’t hold back... for Kinuya!


	14. Hopeless Ultra Girl

Chieko glanced at the unconscious Kinuya, then back to Lilith. She wouldn't let her become another Shinsui. "Alright, it's weak to Psy attacks, is it?" She scoffed, "Giant blob... meet Psio!"

Lilith sent a psy attack hurtling towards Shadow Kinuya. It hit the shadow dead-on, causing it to scream out in agony. 

“Uh, this won’t hurt Kinuya, will it?” Koichi asked Natsumi, hesitant to send another attack towards the thing.

“Not at all,” Natsumi insisted, “Although... we can calm it, but I fear it won’t go away until Kinuya has accepted it... I hope that she comes round after we’ve calmed it down.”

Koichi nodded and readied an attack. “Zionga!” He cried, Pan sending an electrical attack from their dagger. 

It didn’t do much to the shadow. It damaged them a bit, but not as much as Chieko’s attack did. He was lucky that it didn’t resist electrical attacks.

“Ah, I know what might speed this up!” Natsumi gasped. “Chieko, you can use a poison attack! If we try and poison it... it’ll take damage over time, without us attacking it!”

“That’s a smart idea,” Ebizo agreed, “Confusion and fear have a low chance of working... and we’ll still have to damage it. Plus, I’m pretty sure fear would work better with those pirates, and not Kinuya. She’s not afraid of a boy in a green outfit.”

“I’m... not sure that’s how it works, Ebizo,” Aurora chuckled, narrowly avoiding an attack from the shadow. “Ah... can we hurry it along before I get hit, please?”

Chieko grinned and pointed dramatically at Shadow Kinuya. “Hey, you freak! Stop stealing Kin-Kin’s face!” She demanded, “Poisma!”

Luckily, the attack managed to hit Shadow Kinuya. The giant blob turned purple and grunted every minute or so. It seemed to be working.

“Ha, nice!” Ebizo applauded. This was working out better than he thought. “Hey, Tsuki-Yomi! Giant slice, now!”

In response to Ebizo’s command, Tsuki-Yomi sent out a physical attack towards their enemy. It was a hit. 

Aurora huffed and threw a knife towards the giant blob of a shadow. “Ha... take that! My persona attacks may not be the greatest against you, but... you can’t stop my knives!” 

With Aurora’s hit, the shadow seemed to be defeated. It stopped attacking them, but for some reason, it didn’t go back into the form from before. It stayed as a giant blob. 

“It looks like it’s stuck,” frowned Koichi. “Natsumi, I thought you said that it would... th-this isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before...!”

“I-I don’t know what’s going on, either-!” Natsumi insisted, “What’s wrong with it? Any normal shadow would’ve... would’ve turned back by now...”

‘Shadow Kinuya’ began to sink into the ground. It tried to reform back into a humanoid state, but couldn’t keep to one form. Then, all of a sudden, it began to crumble into a pile of ash. It reminded Ebizo of a statue falling apart. All too quickly, all that was left of the being was a pile of ash and rock. 

Natsumi hesitantly approached the pile and poked it with her foot. “I... that was... I... I don’t believe that this was actually Kinuya’s shadow,” she announced to the group, “This must’ve been... a mask... I’ve certainly never seen a shadow use that tactic before. They’re... they’re getting stronger. It’s a good thing there’s more of you now.”

Ebizo and Chieko ignored this for now and rushed over to Kinuya. She was still passed out, but there was no blood to be seen. That was one good thing, at least. 

“Let’s take her home,” Ebizo grunted as he lifted Kinuya up. “We... defeated the master shadow, right? We can go back now? Everything is fixed? It’s probably a stretch to say that this won’t happen again, huh?”

Natsumi gestured towards a portal, now forming in the centre of the room. “When everyone steps through here... things should go back to normal. The ‘gym’ shall return to it’s natural state, people and all. I hope no one was injured this time... but it appears that these shadows just wanted people to exercise, not to die.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the same thing,” Aurora sarcastically replied, “Come on, Ebizo looks worried sick. We need to explain this to Chieko, too... leave that to Koichi and me, Ebizo. You go on ahead and take Kinuya home. It’ll be better if we split up, anyway. That crowd could’ve grown bigger.”

Ebizo nodded towards Aurora as a thank-you. “I’ll talk to you guys at school. Chieko... I hope you agree to help us,” he told her, “This won’t be the last time this happens. And we can’t fight this on our own.”

“Text me later when you have an update on Kin-Kin’s situation,” Chieko said with a worried look on her face. “She has my number... you can text me from her phone, or something...”

He bid the others farewell and stepped through the portal. Kinuya was more important to him than anything else right now. He had to make sure that she was okay. 

The crowd of onlookers gasped in amazement as the gym seemingly appeared back in place. Ebizo noticed a police car and groaned. There was only one guy in the world that seemed to accompany every police car in Jansaai. 

Sure enough, his father ran up to the two as he saw them stumble out from behind the bushes. Good thing the portal didn’t send them straight to the front entrance of the gym. He didn’t have to explain them appearing out of nowhere.

“What the hell happened?!” Taijo cried as he took Kinuya from Ebizo. “Kinuya... did she faint again? Is that it?”

“Sh-She just hit her head, dad,” Ebizo stuttered, “Nothing to worry about. Her friend called me and told me about it, that’s all. She just needs some rest...”

“Hit her head?” Taijo repeated, “Then she might have a concussion! We should take her to the doctor-“

“She’ll be fine, dad!” Ebizo insisted, “Stop worrying! Just... take us home in your police car. Why are you even here, anyway? I thought you... never mind. I don’t know what you do anymore.”

“Didn’t you see?” Taijo gestured to the gym. “That building disappeared off the face of the Earth! We’ve had to call Interpol... luckily, there was an agent nearby. She’s coming now. But... I don’t exactly know what to say... they’ll think it was a prank.”

“An Interpol agent? Here?” Ebizo frowned as they put Kinuya into a nearby police car. “Psh. Why are they here, of all places? There’s not exactly anything to do round here. The only thing that’s exciting is... I dunno, Shinsui’s death? They’re... not investigating that, are they, dad?”

“I... let’s focus on getting Kinuya home,” Taijo instructed, ignoring his question entirely. “You’re lucky I called for back up. Get in before they call me away again. Like they always do...”

Ebizo nodded and got into the car before his father changed his mind. Kinuya would wake up soon. He just had to believe it, that’s all. 

——

The portal was closing. Natsumi had already wondered away, the area of Luethea returning to normal. At the last second, an unknown hand reached out and was transported to Jansaai. 

The sound of tweeting birds. The smell of the grass. The blinding sun. All new sensations. Their form changed to a human’s. A girl with short, pink hair. She definitely stood out.

As she gazed at the new environment around them, a human approached her. She glanced at Juichi Rakuyama. An unimportant, self-absorbed boy. 

“You!” He cried as he walked up to her. “Did you see anything? You practically appeared out of nowhere... how did you get past the police tape?!”

She drew a breath. It had been a while since she last talked. “I think that is unim-portant, wouldn’t, you say?” Her speech was laboured, slow, raspy. To a regular human, she was stressing unusual syllables. Taking a gulp of air every few seconds. 

Juichi looked at her with a frown. Her manner of speaking stood out. “Right. It’s very important,” he told her harshly, “What’s your name?”

“Ai... Jui-chi... that issss your, name, is it not?” ‘Ai’ questioned with a robotic tilt of her head. “You would do, well to not, interru-pt things.”

“How... Hmph. Of course you know my name. I’m very popular,” he smirked to himself, “Ai, was it? What’s your surname? Where’s your parents?”

Ai stepped forwards. “I said not, to interru-pt things,” she said sternly, “Do, not tessst me. I know ev-erything about, you, Jui-chi.”

Juichi was starting to get a little creeped out. “Hey, take this seriously-!” He insisted, “I’ll... I’ll get someone with arresting powers if you threaten me like that!”

Ai grabbed Juichi’s arm and leaned in close. “No, you won’t,” she whispered, “Let me have, my fun. I have a boy, to find. Unl-ess you, would like to, visit your dead si-ster, hm?”

Blood drained from Juichi’s face. “How... how did you... shut up!” He screamed at her, “That’s it! I’m arresting you on... on charges...”

Grinning, Ai shoved Juichi up against the wall, her hands around his neck. “Hum-ansss... your, skin. So weak. I wond-er how long it, would take to snap,” she took a breath, “I can, feel your path-etic cries...”

“S-Stop...” Juichi gasped for air as he desperately tried to loosen her grip. It was like iron. Her arms looked so skinny - how was she this strong?

Ai chuckled and let Juichi go, shoving him to the ground. “Run on, home, litt-le boy,” she gasped. “I’ll ret-urn, soon. I’ll be, la-ughing. Ha. Ha. Ha.”

Juichi ran off, calling for the woman known was ‘Teiko’. He was scared to death by the event. Good. He wouldn’t be coming back.

She gasped for air once more. Talking was taking a lot of energy out of her. Would she need to eat, now that she was on Earth? 

No. There was no time for that now. She needed to focus on her mission. Study the boy. Get to know his schedule. She was convinced that no one could do this better than herself. 

Her attention turned to a small apartment block nearby. There was one window with the lights on. A pretty light. She decided to head towards it. 

Ai stumbled up the stairs, not used to having a human form. The apartment block seemed dead. It stunk, too. Having a sense of smell was not always a good thing, it seemed.

Arriving at the apartment, she opened the door and stepped through. It seemed clean. Neat. This would be perfect for a base of operations. After coming to this conclusion, she decided to take a peek at the kitchen. 

As she pulled out a pretty knife, a figure stumbled through the door. It was a man. He was intoxicated. His breath smelt of alcohol. 

“What... the hell are you doing here?” He grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “You’re not a... get... get out of here...”

Ai stepped forward, brandishing the knife. “Your life, is deem-ed, unim-portant, Taro Tanaka,” she grinned madly as she raised the knife skywards. “So, long.”

Tanaka screamed as Ai plunged the knife deep into his skull, killing him instantly. In a mix of insanity, she plunged the knife into his lifeless body, over and over. Blood poured out onto the wooden floor. It covered her from head to toe. But she didn’t care. She kept stabbing him, over and over and over and over and over and-

Suddenly, she stopped. She dropped the knife. It fell to the ground miserably. It had been done. His miserable life was over. All according to plan.

Ai stood up and headed towards the bathroom. When she saw a mirror in the hallway, she paused. Her once childlike, innocent appearance was now distorted. 

And she couldn’t help but to laugh.


	15. Hanged Man Arcana

Ebizo stared down at his sister. She had gotten hurt, and it was his fault. How the hell was he going to answer all of her questions when she woke up? He couldn't deny it. Probably. She had seen everything.

He still didn't know what to say or do when she woke up. She removed the ice pack from her head and sat up, her wide eyes staring straight at Ebizo. 

"I-I know I have a lot of explaining to do-" Ebizo began before he was quickly cut off.

"Don't... I don't think I'd get it, even if you told me," Kinuya said with a smile. "But... at the same time, I want to know everything... are you... putting a stop to it?"

"We're... trying to, yes," he replied, "I didn't think you'd get caught up in this. All the more reason to put a stop to it. Just... don't mention anything to dad." 

"That thing... it said it was my shadow... I know you must've defeated it in order to get me out of there," mumbled Kinuya, "It said all of those things about me.. and I..."

"You've thought about things like that, haven't you? It's alright. I know you've had... Uh," Ebizo hesitated. He didn't know the best way to word this. "Eating. And things. Like your weight."

Kinuya glanced at the weighing scales near her bed. "I know I should get help... but they'll watch me all day. They'll make me eat things I don't want to eat," she said in a hushed voice, "I... I can't bring myself to eat. Not when it makes me gain weight."

"I'm not a doctor, but I know that mom's meals aren't fattening," Ebizo patted his stomach teasingly. "At least try and get off of the cotton balls. They get stuck in your stomach... like gum! I think. Maybe you could try foods like salad or soup that don't make you feel full... Uh... maybe you can try something like that?"

"Mm... it's harder than that, but I suppose I could... try," smiled Kinuya. "For Tak... you know, I... I considered... ending it... when Shinsui died. But then I thought of you. I thought of Tak... he's too young to go through something like that. Don't you dare tell mom or dad-"

"I won't tell them any of this. I promise," Ebizo told her, "It's sweet that you thought of us. If you ever feel that way again... come to me about it. I'd be pretty sad..."

"You could get the bigger room, though," she chuckled, "I'm joking, joking! I won't do it. That was just a... momentary slip."

"I didn't realise you were so close to Shinsui. I thought he was a bully to everyone but Chieko," Ebizo commented, trying his best not to remember what happened to him.

"No, he was nice to us, too! Because we were Chieko's friends," Kinuya smiled fondly at the memory. "Also, he, uh... liked the cheerleading outfits. A lot. A-Anyway, Shinsui was so dark and brooding... his red hair was so... it made him stand out..."

"Um. Are we even talking about the same person?" Ebizo frowned. "Koichi has blue hair. I can introduce you to him, if you'd like-"

"Ew, no. Isn't he, like, a baby?" Kinuya's face scrunched up in horror. "I don't date babies. Besides, Perrie has weird hair. He's not special just because his hair is unique."

"I'm sure dad will find out what happened to him soon," Ebizo lied, knowing that such an event would never happen, "You should take a day off, though... it's not good for you to go rushing back in with everything going on."

"B-But if I do that, I'm just avoiding the inevitable!" Kinuya cried, "I'll need to get back to speaking terms with Chieko again... m-maybe I can teach her how to be a good person..."

"I can handle that," Ebizo shrugged. He would have to talk to their new teammate sooner or later. "I was planning to have a chat with her at some point, anyway."

"Aww! Does Ebi-Webby have a girlfrined?" Kinuya teased him, squishing his cheeks. "How did you manage that?"

"N-No-!" Ebizo denied immediately, his cheeks a light pink. "I'm not saying I don't have a crush, but I... I-It's not Chieko-!"

"Go on, who's your crush?" Kinuya said excitedly, "Tell me! Is it one of your new friends? Is it the toddler boy?"

"Stop trying to guess!" Ebizo huffed, "Why would I tell... Ugh, fine. As long as you stop pestering me about it... it's... it's Aurora."

There was a beat before Kinuya replied. "Who's Aurora?" She said.

"Th-The new girl! Blonde hair! She's in my class!" He paused as he realised that more than one person could fall into that category. "She's from America. Is that enough information?"

Whilst Ebizo was describing her, Kinuya had picked up her phone. "Ooh, okay. I'm looking at her on Smithereen... Aww. She's cute. She like you?"

"I-I don't know yet... I'll ask her out by the year ends. Maybe. If she wants a relationship," mumbled Ebizo, "I want to give her some space now... so she can settle in."

He watched as his sister scrolled through Aurora's Smithereen account. Whilst she was doing that, a tarot card appeared above her head. The Hanged Man Arcana. 

It was at this point that he began to wonder why it took this long for him to bond like this with his sister.

——

Akoto giggled as she finished up her latest letter to her dear penpal. Outside of Ebizo and the others, they were the only friend she had. Pyrrha. Right now, Akoto's letters were far more exciting than hers.

She had told her friend about the Shinsui's death, the weird disappearance of the gym building... and Ebizo and the others, of course. It was funny. Before now, she never really had any school friends.

It had all changed when she bumped into Koichi at the start of the year. He didn't want her walking to school alone, so he offered to walk with her. They had been doing that since day one - Koichi would meet Akoto at her house, with his parents in tow. They did the same on the way home from school. On Fridays, she even managed to get a free meal as they all went to town for some food.

A part of her wanted to move in with Koichi. But she knew that wouldn't be possible. She may have been alone in her house, but that didn't warrant enough of an excuse for her to move in with Koichi. Perhaps she just wanted to stay with a friend close by. 

She put her letter to Pyrrha to one side and focused on her homework. The answers weren't anywhere online - she had already checked for that. For once, she would have to work this out for herself. 

"Mom... dad... I wish you were here," she mumbled to no one but herself. The empty house reflected her empty mind. If only they were there to help her. Like normal parents.

Her grieving was interrupted by a video call from Koichi. At first, she wasn't sure on what to do. Should she click the green button? She decided to do so.

Koichi spoke up as soon as he appeared on her screen. _"Heya, Akoto! Are you stuck on the homework, too?,"_ he turned away from the camera. _"It's Akoto, mommy! No... I'm not talking to any strangers. You can have a look if you really want...!"_

"I... how are you on my... uh, maybe if we work on it together... we'll get some right answers," Akoto giggled. "Although... I don't wanna do that right now. I'd rather talk to you... on this... screen..."

_"I'd rather talk to you, too,"_ Koichi confessed as he shuffled awkwardly into view. _"You're my best friend, Akoto! Besides, you're always free. No matter what time I call you, you'll always pick up..."_

"Mainly because you call me in the afternoon, and not ridiculously early in the morning or something," she grinned. "If you did... you know I wouldn't pick up. I'd want my beauty sleep!"

_"I-I'm not allowed to stay up past that time, anyway... but, um,"_ Koichi cleared his throat. _"Be... be careful, okay? There's... you've seen the news, right?"_

"Are you... talking about the buildings that are disappearing?" She asked him, tilting her head. "I don't really go to any big places. I think I'll be alright..."

_"B-But you never know-!"_ Koichi burst out, _"I mean... n-no one knows what happens to them! People have been hurt! Shinsui..."_

Akoto raised an eyebrow. "What... what about Shinsui? He got dropped from an airplane or something, didn't he...?" She mumbled.

_"N-No one knows... Ebizo's dad is a detective, and he doesn't know,"_ Koichi told her, _"If a detective person doesn't know... then no one should know!"_

"Well, apart from who done it, of course," Akoto said sarcastically, "But they won't come forward like that. Not if they're smart. I guess we'll never know what happened to him..."

_"Yeah, I g-guess,"_ agreed Koichi, " _Hey, um... this is depressing me. Can we talk about something else?"_

She couldn't help but to grin. "Of course. Did you watch Alitia: Magicial Girls last night?"

——

Hayasaki Yudai was trying his best to not look like a stalker. Over the past few days, he had been keeping a close eye on Chieko. It was out of curiosity, he thought to himself. Surely, it wasn't anything else... not her bright, pretty eyes, or her tendency to wear short skirts...

Now he really was sounding like a creepy stalker. He really was just curious about her. She was granted the role of head cheerleader almost immediately - and it bothered him. He was also curious about how she managed to become so popular in the school.

So, here he was. Following her on her second shopping trip this week. Money seemed to flow out of her pockets. No one else would feel the need to shop twice in a week.

Part of him was thankful that she had his back to him. Whilst she was wearing another mini skirt today, she was also wearing a white corset-like shirt, exposing part of her cleavage. If his eyes glanced down, he wouldn't be able to stop blushing...

Why was he like this? He should just approach her. Get it over with. Be less creepy. The only other time he felt this way about anyone was towards a baseball player that just happened to take his shirt off in front of Hayasaki. It took him months to get over that crush.

Besides, Chieko would have men flocking at her feet. Now that Shinsui was... no longer here, she was now single again. He overheard that two people were already planning on asking her out this Friday. 

Who wouldn't want to date her? She was the most popular girl in the school - plus, she was the head cheerleader. Arguably, she was the most attractive, too... but that varied from person to person. Hayasaki wouldn't stand a chance.

Perhaps... perhaps he would spend a little more time gathering data on her. That way, he would be able to tell if she would reject him or not. If word got out that someone like him asked Chieko out on a date, he would never hear the end of it. He would have to wait until she was alone. 

Chieko turned in his general direction, so Hayasaki went back to pretending to look on his phone. He buried his face in his hoodie. If she noticed that he was stalking her, he could be thrown into detention. Or worse, expelled. That was what happened to stalkers, right?

Oh. Plus, he would ruin his chance of ever going on a date with her. Although, getting expelled was probably the worst thing here. No matter how much his heart wanted to say otherwise.


	16. Lovers Arcana

Ebizo huffed and puffed as Chieko dragged him around the mall. When Chieko had contacted him regarding the events from before, Ebizo thought that maybe they could sit down and process everything. Instead, Chieko's idea of coping was to quite literally shop until Ebizo dropped. 

"Can we - fff - take a breather?" Ebizo panted, Chieko's shopping bags wearing him down. He dumped them on the ground and flopped onto the bench behind him.

"Well, alright... I was getting a bit hungry, anyway," Chieko agreed, sitting down next to Ebizo. "I guess I forget that not every guy is as strong as Shinsui was. I used to drag him around on my shopping trips..."

"You, uh, did?" Ebizo blinked at her. "I'm... sorry for your loss. I know I've never really said it before."

"It's okay!" Chieko said with a bright smile. "He... wasn't the best person. I know that... he wasn't exactly the best boyfriend, either... I think we were together because we were popular."

"If you didn't like him, then why did you agree to date him?" He questioned her, curious. "Especially if he was a big bully-!"

"Oh, I did think he was hot. He was just a little awkward at first... I think it was his first time dating someone," Chieko told him, "I didn't think I'd be the one doing the promoting and stuff... but he was kinda distant, too. Even now, I still don't know much about his family. And he knew everything about mine!"

"You... do tell everyone about your family," he chuckled. "They're all cheerleaders, right? Your sisters, I mean."

"That's right! So was our mom!" Chieko replied, "My little sister is the cheerleader of the Mini-Tykes, and my older sister is the cheerleader of the... uh, some college baseball team. It's like a family tradition, you know?"

"That just sounds like a bunch of trouble," Ebizo frowned. "I mean, it sounds like you were practically forced into cheerleading..."

"I-I like cheerleading-!" Chieko insisted, "My mom did say that I should take it up, because it's fun... and it is! I wouldn't be the team captain if I didn't like it, silly."

"Don't you want to do something else with your life, though?" Ebizo asked her, "Like... what do you want to do when you leave school?"

"I wanna go to college. Then, I can be the cheerleader for a team there!" Chieko said with a grin. "Like my older sister... but I still haven't decided what I should do. Maybe something in fashion? But that seems stereotypical. But I'm not smart enough to do something like science or english... can you imagine me, speaking english? I highly doubt it!"

"You're a... third year, aren't you? You should be studying for the entrance exam right now," he muttered, "Your mom must want you to pass, huh? I think every parent thinks the same way..."

"Oh, yeah," she scoffed, "She keeps going on and on about it! I don't want to go to college to do some boring academic course just because it might get me an office job. I'm not an office type of gal! I just wanna be free to do whatever I wanna do! And I wanna have a good time!"

"Maybe you should go travelling," Ebizo suggested, "Get out of Jansaai. There's loads of places in the world you could go to!"

"Hmm... that might be a good idea," Chieko agreed, "I could go to London! New York! Paris! Oh, but I'll probably need to learn some languages, then... or just bring a guide with me."

Ebizo couldn't help but chuckle and Chieko's slight naïveté. As he was admiring this, he saw a tarot card form above Chieko's head. The lovers arcana. 

Chieko turned her head to something behind her. "Huh. Could've sworn I saw someone..." she mumbled to herself. "Come on, Ebizo. Let's load these bags into my car."

——

Ebizo had called a meeting for the 'Persona Gang' as they were called in their group chat. It consisted of Ebizo, Aurora, Koichi and Chieko. They were meeting outside the newly-built Kiria Stadium, originally built to house some local baseball matches. 

"Sooo... this happens, like, every month?" Chieko's mouth fell open. "That's crazy! We really have to save the world every month and not get any credit?"

"Well, they'd probably want to ask us a bunch of questions... they'd think we'd be making the other world up," Aurora warned her, "It was bad enough with that gym... we barely got out of it. I hope they don't intend on doing more public places..."

"I-It's bad enough for me, too," Koichi admitted, "My parents barely allow me to go anywhere on my own. Ebizo had to pick me up from my house, since they didn't trust me to go out on my own..."

"I'm sure they'll roll over eventually, Koichi," Ebizo rolled his eyes at him. "So, now you know everything, Chieko. About us. About what we do. Just make sure you're not busy when the next event happens..."

"I can't exactly make myself free all of the time, Ebizo!" Chieko complained, "What if I'm sleeping? I mean, all of these events have happened during the day, right? They might change it up next time!"

"I hope not... Ebizo's dog can tell us when an earthquake happens... sort of," Aurora chuckled nervously. "We also can't rule out that earthquakes could just be happening because... of Earth related things, and not Luethea ones."

"Ugh! All this talk about what-ifs is making me depressed. Let's talk about something else!" Chieko declared, pointing at a nearby TV screen. "Like... pop culture! Did you guys hear that Alice will be touring Japan soon? She might come here!"

"A pop star? In Jansaai? I doubt it," Aurora shrugged. "What are the odds? We don't really have a place to house a big performance like that... unless it's in a baseball stadium."

Ebizo felt like he was missing out on something. "Uh. Who's Alice?" He asked the girls, "I've never heard of her. Is she a new... pop star?"

"I think so," Koichi mumbled, "She's only started to become popular... I heard some boys at school talking about her. They like her because of... um... her 'foreign look' or something."

Chieko pulled up a picture of Alice on her phone. She had long, blonde hair that covered her right eye, and blue eyes. Ebizo noticed that she wore black in every one of her photos. He could see what those two boys meant by a 'foreign look'.

"I wish I had natural blonde hair like her!" Chieko squealed in delight, "And look at how she rocks that black dress! Ugh! Queen!"

"I-I have natural blonde hair and blue eyes..." Aurora muttered with a frown. "Surely people would find me attractive because of that, too...?"

Ebizo wrapped an arm around Aurora's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "You're the prettiest girl I know, Aurora," he smiled at her. "It's probably because she's a pop star or something. People crowd around famous people like that."

Aurora looked at the nearby TV screen to hide her blush. "L-Look, they're doing an interview with her, now," she pointed. "This'll be perfect for you, Ebizo! Watch it!"

He looked up towards the TV screen and focused on Alice. Once again, she was wearing black. She had a certain... aura about her that calmed Ebizo down. He couldn't quite place his finger on it.

_"You recently announced your tour of Japan, Alice,"_ the interviewer began, _"Why Japan? Everyone thought you would be touring the US..."_

_"That's simple!"_ Alice said with a smile. _"I love Japan... it's such a beautiful country. I have many fans there, too. My sister visited the country recently, and she told me all about it... so I just had to go!"_

_"Lots of people have been questioning your music style,"_ the interviewer continued, _"Your lyrics are dark and morbid, accompanied by a happy guitar tune. How can someone so young sing words so sad?"_

_"I guess that's where my music inspiration comes from. Real life,"_ giggled Alice. _"More people can relate to lyrics filled with sadness compared to happiness... not to sound too depressing. I like to think there's humour behind my lyrics, too."_

_“We’ll see when you debut a new song in a minute. Are your lyrics based on real life events?”_ The interviewer asked her with a fake smile.

_“Oh... that’s the mystery, isn’t it?”_ Alice pursed her lips. _“Mm... I do draw inspiration from the world around me. But I wouldn’t be nearly as successful as I am now if everything in my lyrics happened in real life!”_

_“Back to your new song... it’s a remake of an old song, isn’t it?”_ The interviewer pressed, “ _A lot of your songs are... are you debuting some original songs, soon?”_

_“Covers aren’t all that bad! But... I am writing some new songs, yes...”_ Alice told them, _“... I need some time to work on them, though. Please forgive me...”_

_“Anyway, your new song... it’s called ‘Unloveable’”_ the interviewer glanced at a sheet in front of them before continuing. _“Care to give us a sneak peak?”_

Alice got up from her seat and walked over to a small set. She stood in front of the microphone and brushed through her hair. _“This one is called ‘Unlovable’... for all of you out there.”_

Chieko cheered in Ebizo’s ear as Alice began to sing. The prevalent guitar echoed throughout the song, although the tune had a hint of sadness in it. Ebizo still remembered a certain section of the song, even after the performance was over:

_“♪I know I’m unlovable,  
You don’t have to tell me,  
Message received loud and clear, loud and clear,  
Message received,  
I don’t have much in my life but take it - it’s yours,  
I wear black on the outside cause black is how I feel on the inside♪” _

Ebizo was the first to speak up after Alice’s performance. “That’s... okay, I don’t argue that she’s pretty, but I thought she’d be... well, pop! Happy! Stuff like that!” He argued, “All of the popular ones these days all have something to do with that. Her lyrics sound so sad compared to them...”

“Because she’s real!” Chieko squealed, “No one else has a voice and writes lyrics like that! Granted, it was a cover... but I’m sure her own lyrics will be like that, too!”

“I can’t place why I like her so much... I just do,” Aurora smiled at him. “Is it really so strange? She’s only a little bit older than us. I’m happy to see someone be so successful at a young age.”

“At least she’s different than those other idols,” Koichi mumbled, “I could fall asleep to her music... if I go to one of her concerts, it’ll be my first one ever! Do you think I could convince my parents to let me go? It’s not like there’s any bad words... I think...”

“I-I still don’t get it, but... I suppose I could listen to more of her music... but only because you guys like her so much, okay?” Ebizo was worried that he was starting to sound like an old man. “I’ll ask my sister about her... she sounds like someone who’d be into all of that stuff...”

“I can’t wait for people to start analysing the lyrics,” Aurora continued, ignoring Ebizo (just a bit). “It’s nice to take our mind off everything... my socials are going crazy about it...”

“Oh, yours to?” Chieko snuggled up to Aurora as the two looked at the other’s phones. “Hey, I should follow you on here... I don’t know why I didn’t already...”

Whilst Ebizo was still a little confused, he was happy that Chieko was fitting in well. He was worried that she would consider herself too high and mighty to talk to them, but he was proven wrong. Maybe a weird pop star could bring the group together after all.


	17. Pink Palace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just started uni so updates will be slow, apologies

Ebizo had practically slept through the school day until it came to lunch. He had a few things on his mind. Namely, if there was going to be another shadow attack this month. 

"You guys are worrying about something. I know it." Akoto said with a dark tone in her voice. "Is it exams? You know you don't have to worry that much about them, right? It'll all work out."

He did feel bad that Akoto was the only one in their close friendship group that didn't know about the shadows. She was the one that sort of introduced them to the concept of Luethea in the first place. It was a shame that they couldn't ask her father for more information on it.

"Um... anyways... did you guys want to come round mine this afternoon?" Akoto asked the group. "There's no one there... it's a little house on the outskirts of town. I'll send you the address."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Aurora agreed, "It'll be nice to relax as a group. Why don't we invite Chieko? Her cheerleading practice was cancelled, so..."

"Since when are you guys all buddy-buddy with Chieko, of all people?" Akoto tilted her head. "I don't get it. Have I missed something?"

"Nothing to worry about," Ebizo dismissed, "Sounds fun, going round yours, Akoto. You sure there's gonna be enough room for us all?"

"Of course! It's a big house for one person," she replied, "I'd love to show you guys around. It's gonna be so much fun!"

"I-I've never seen you this excited before, Akoto," Koichi stuttered, "It'll be nice to hang out as a group, though."

"I'll see you guys there!" Akoto announced to the group, "Oh, uh... we can walk to mine, actually. It'll be better than using a map."

The bell rang a few seconds later. Ebizo wasn't looking forward to Mr. Haraki's lesson. He had been getting more and more depressed lately, and it was beginning to sneak into his lessons.

At least he had this afternoon to look forward to. 

——

Akoto was instructing Chieko on the directions to her house. They had agreed that it would be quicker and less taxing to take Chieko's car - especially since it just about had enough seats for all of them. It was a flashy red car, far too expensive for anyone else of her age to own.

"It's just on this road up here! The house on the end!" Akoto gestured widely at the road in front of them. "The speed limit is thirty, be careful-!"

"There's no one around here, anyway! It's just full of fields!" Chieko argued, slowing down just a bit. "Are you sure your house is down here? I thought they knocked all these ones down in preparation for building."

"Yeah... they wanna build more houses here, don't they?" Koichi mumbled as he stared out of the window. "I overheard my dad talking about it..."

Eventually, Chieko pulled up to the only house on the street. She unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of her car, signalling for the rest of the group to do the same. The red car stuck out from the rest of the scenery - it was the most technologically advanced thing for the next half mile. 

“Let’s go already!” Aurora giggled, sprinting towards the door. She barely got a chance to touch the doorknob when the ground began to shake. 

Ebizo grabbed Aurora’s hand and pulled her closer to him. “E-Earthquake-! Do you feel that?!” He cried, looking over to his companions.

Akoto looked in the window of her house and saw cabinets and tables shake. About the same time, she noticed that water droplets were beginning to gather on the bottom of the windowsill. 

“It’s happening again!” Chieko realised not a moment too soon, “This is just like how it was before... when-”

——

Ebizo’s eyes shot open. There was a figure standing over him, but he couldn’t quite make out who it was. It took him a minute to finally regain his senses. He was outside Akoto’s house but a moment ago - so why couldn’t he feel the breeze on his face?

The blueness around him made him realise where he was. He was in the Velvet Room... somehow. Perhaps he had fallen asleep, or something hit him on his head.

“I was wondering how long you were going to take,” said Henry, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice. “Honestly, you’d think you’d be more happy to see me!”

“Where are the others?!” Ebizo demanded, finding his balance. He tried to avoid looking in the direction of Igor. The long nose scared him a bit. 

“Relax. Time passes differently in here,” Henry told him, “You need to focus. Another trial awaits.”

“A trial... you’re talking about the shadows. It’s a weird place to target, though... Akoto’s house? It’s not like anyone else lives there. Akoto is on her own,” Ebizo thought aloud.

Henry turned his head towards a stack of tarot cards on Igor’s desk. “My master drew a card the moment you entered. It was the Wheel of Fortune. For good or for worse, something is about to change.”

“That’s what I’m here for? A tarot reading?” Ebizo scoffed, glancing up at the clock. It was quarter past the hour. “I need to get back to my friends. They need me.”

“I just wanted to wish you luck.” Henry smiled at him. “Please, be careful. If you get out of this alive... well... there’s someone special that insists on meeting you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Ebizo rolled his eyes and stepped towards the exit. “Tsuki-Yomi and I will handle this... like we always do.”

——

When Ebizo stepped back outside, he was greeted with another change of scenery. Akoto’s quiet and empty house was replaced by a colourful mansion, with bright gardens for miles. The evidence of construction was nowhere in sight. It was like they were in the countryside.

“Oh, thank gosh you’re back!” Aurora stepped in front of Ebizo and grabbed his hand. “We were transported here... you seemed really out of it, though. Are you okay?”

“Yeah... yeah, I’m fine,” he replied, “Where’s Akoto? She was with us... wasn’t she?”

Koichi nibbled on his sweater’s sleeve. “W-We don’t know... um... but there is some good news, though! Our Personas gave us some melee weapons!”

“It’s true!” Chieko chirped, “Lilith gave me this bat, whereas Koichi got a bow. Ebizo, you’ve got a katana on your belt. Aurora has these cute little knives! We’ll be able to keep our stamina up if we use our weapons instead of our Personas.”

“That’s right... we can’t leave Akoto in here for long,” Aurora agreed, “We need to find her... wherever she went. She was standing right here with us...”

The group’s worrying was interrupted by a cry from above. Natsumi was running down a steep hill to meet them, almost tripping up on her own feet. She managed to stop herself right in front of Koichi, inches away from crashing into him.

“Hey! Are you guys here to put a stop to this again?” She asked the group. “Uh... you really should come up with a team name or something. Like... The Investigation Team! Or... the Phantoms! Or-”

“No,” Ebizo put a stop to her suggestions immediately. “We’re not superheroes. We’re just here to save Akoto. Do you know where she is?”

“Uh... can you tell me more about her?” Natsumi asked him, “I can always find you guys, because I know what you look and smell like! But I don’t think I’ve met her before...”

“She’s got black hair, tied into an awkward ponytail,” Aurora began, “Glasses, a lilac scarf... is this helping, at all...?”

“If I had to guess, she’d be somewhere in that big building,” Natsumi shrugged. “It seems like a fortress for the Master Shadow. However, there’s a bunch of shadows sitting between her and us...”

“That door is locked. I already tried it!” Chieko huffed, “The only place we can go to is this pumpkin garden. You know, the one in the complete opposite direction?”

“Maybe the key is in the pumpkins!” Koichi suggested, “It’s like a fetch quest. They wanna prove that we’re worthy! Or... they might just wanna delay us. I dunno yet. Guess we’ll find out when we explore this place further.”

Aurora sighed and turned to the pumpkin patch. “It’s worth a try... I just worry about Akoto. The poor thing will have no idea what’s going on! I know she has a little knowledge of this place, but...”

“If it helps, the shadows won’t kill her yet. They’ll probably torment her for a bit before doing that,” Natsumi said with a grin. “None of you were killed when you came here, weren’t you? She’ll be alright for a while!”

“Then let’s hurry up! You’re lucky I’m wearing my trainers. I wouldn’t want to be wearing my heels for this,” Chieko grumbled as she led the charge towards the pumpkin patch. She batted any nearby shadows out of the way, allowing Koichi and Aurora to finish them off with a long-ranged attack.

The closer they got to the pumpkin patch, the more worried they were getting. In the middle was a large shadow - not quite the size of a Master Shadow, but it was still bigger than the others. It was carefully tending to the pumpkins - even if this wasn’t the real world.

“Hey, you! Where’s our friend?!” Chieko demanded, batting a nearby shadow out of the way. “I’m talking to you, mister groundskeeper!”

“D-Don’t get it’s attention-!” Koichi hissed at her, “We could’ve... you know... done a surprise attack! We can’t bat all of these shadows out of the way!”

“Koichi’s right. That shadow is stronger than us,” Aurora warned, “We’ll need to use our Personas to defeat it. It’s the only way.”

“Maybe then it’ll give us a key... Natsumi, give us a rundown. What is it?” Ebizo asked his companion, turning towards her.

Natsumi peered closely at the larger shadow, gathering information. “Mm... looks like it’s a guard. Like a mini-boss. It reminds me of a teddy bear... look how it’s almost stitched together.”

“I could’ve told you that,” Chieko rolled her eyes. “What about weaknesses? You must know that, right?”

“Oh! Sorry... I was just trying to be helpful,” Natsumi muttered, “I’m really not that good at this, but... maybe try wind or ice!”

“We don’t have wind or ice,” Ebizo sighed. They needed team members with different skills, and quick. “Looks like we’ll just have to brute force it... what about resistances?”

“You shouldn’t use electric!” Natsumi chirped, “Looks like electric actually restores some of it’s health. I’m gonna assume it can use electric attacks, then...”

“I can resist those... but mainly because I use electric skills in my attacks,” Koichi chuckled nervously. “If you guys want me to take the hits for you, just say so!”

“As long as Aurora doesn’t get too hurt. She’s our only healer,” Ebizo instructed, “If Aurora looks weak, defend her whilst she regains some energy.”

“Good thing I got us some snacks!” Chieko grabbed a packet of cookies from her pocket. “If we eat these, we can regain some health if Aurora is busy!”

“We’ve actually planned this out this time, huh?” Ebizo couldn’t help but to smile. “That’s a first... Natsumi, stay out of harm’s way. Tell us if we’re about to be attacked or something. Got it!”

“Got it! I’ll do my best... good luck, you guys!” Natsumi jumped up and down excitedly - finally alerting the shadow before them.

It was a giant teddy bear, dressed in overalls. It looked a little worse for wear, being out in the dirt. “You’re trespassing,” it said simply, “I’ll protect her... you won’t step foot in that house!”

The group held up their weapons, ready to begin the battle. This was for Akoto - and the rest of the Jansaai.


	18. Life On Luethea?

The giant teddy bear was the first to attack. "Zionga!" It cried, electricity shooting from their soft fur and heading straight towards Chieko. She barely had any time to react, the sudden attack shocking the group - literally. 

Luckily, Koichi pushed her out of the way and absorbed the attack. "You can thank me later!" he grinned, taking a small amount of damage. If Chieko was hit, the damage would've been a lot more. That, she knew for a fact.

"I have an idea," mumbled Chieko, "Hey, big ugly! Poisma - poison the hell out of it, Lilith! That way, we won't have to worry so much about not hitting the weaknesses... I think."

It was a good idea - but the attack missed. 

"No, that's a good idea!" Ebizo cheered, "I have an idea, too... I'll give you more of a chance to be able to hit the thing. Sukukaja!" He commanded, raising Chieko's hit and evasion rate. He wondered why they hadn't bothered with support skills up until now.

Aurora was next. She held her knives in her hands and threw two of them towards the giant teddy bear, damaging it a little. She didn't want to waste her persona's energy so early on - not when there was still a Master Shadow to fight. Besides, fire and light would do little to damage the shadow. It was best to save her efforts on healing.

This attack only managed to enrage the giant teddy bear. It targeted Aurora next, baring its claws. "Giant slice!" It said, slashing at Aurora, causing her to fall to her knees.

Ebizo ran over to Aurora and helped her back onto her feet. "Be careful," he warned her, "We can't afford to lose you... I... don't know what I-"

His mumbling was interrupted by Koichi firing an arrow at the teddy bear in retaliation. "You meanie! I usually like teddy bears, but you're just too cruel!" The arrow, like Aurora's knives, did little damage.

"I'll try that poison thing again," Chieko told the others. "Lilith - Poisma! Maybe actually hit the thing this time..." 

Thanks to Ebizo's hit boost, she managed to poison the teddy bear. It would do a lot more damage than the group simply hitting the shadow with their melee weapons. It was the best they could do, since none of them could target the shadow's weakness. 

"You're doing great, guys! Just a little more!" Natsumi encouraged, feeling a bit left out. All she could do was name some information about each shadow - and even then, it was limited. She wished she could do more, but without the ability to use skills, she couldn't do much. Apart from maybe wave her arms at a shadow.

Ebizo, Aurora and Koichi all charged towards the shadow with their melee weapons before it could retaliate. The three of them all managed to hit the teddy bear, thanks to how large it was. It seemed to be poor at avoiding melee attacks compared to persona skills.

However, with the teddy bear taking damage from Chieko's poison attack, this only seemed to enrage the shadow further. "Mazio - have fun avoiding attacks when you can't move, brats.." mumbled the shadow, releasing an electrical attack that targeted the entire team.

Whilst Koichi only took a little damage due to his resistance to electrical attacks, the rest of the team weren't that lucky. Ebizo was in a shocked state, unable to move or attack. He cursed under his breath. What were the chances?

"Ebizo-!" Aurora called out to her teammate, "Hang on, I think I have a skill that can help... um... Brigit - Baisudi, now! Help Ebizo recover from shock!"

With Brigit's help, Ebizo recovered from shock. The teddy bear continued to take damage from Chieko's poison attack. Surely they would win soon, right? If only there was a health bar or something that showed just how much they had to damage it before it disappeared...

"Okay, I'm getting real sick of this fight," Chieko complained, "Akoto is out there suffering, and we're stuck trying to kill this stupid thing! You're gonna get a real bat in the face... Lilith! Psio!" She launched a psychokinesis attack towards the teddy bear, despite it doing only a bit more damage compared to a melee attack.

"You really shouldn't waste your energy, Chieko," Nastsumi reminded her, "We have to make sure we have enough to deal with the Master Shadow!"

Koichi was getting annoyed, too. He aimed his bow towards the teddy bear, specifically one of the bear's eyes. Before he had a chance to fire, though, he had a change of plan. He put his bow away and instead grabbed one of his arrows. "Watch this, Ebizo!" He grinned, charging towards the teddy bear. With a mighty jump, he stabbed the bear's stomach with the arrow, ripping the material as he fell back down. 

It seemed to do the trick. The bear's stuffing began to fall out as it hunched over, eager to collect it. Even now, the poison continued to damage the bear, slowing its movement. 

Aurora had a similar realisation to Koichi. She grabbed one of her knives and did the exact same thing - ripping the teddy bear even more. "Ebizo, cut it with your katana! Chieko, Natsumi - borrow one of Koichi's arrows. It's time for an all-out attack!"

The group launched their attack, ripping the teddy bear apart at the seams. This final attack finally put an end to the shadow - once they all finished attacking, the shadow melted away without another word. In its place was a pink key, labelled with the words 'Use me'.

"This looks like it could go in the main door," Aurora noted as she picked up the key. "Let's look inside that creepy house... it looks like Akoto's house, but it's...not..."

"We should hurry," Ebizo told the others, "I know Natsumi said we have time, but I... don't want to chance it. We can't leave someone behind again..."

"Hey, there's no used getting all sad!" Koichi comforted him, "We can't have Akoto seeing you like this. She'll cry, too... so we should keep a smile on our face!"

"Yeah... you're right. Let's get inside that creepy house, huh?" He said, marching towards the front of the house. "Can't be that much harder, right? I'm sure we'll be fine..." he muttered as he unlocked the door.

"Hee-yah!" Chieko cried as she kicked the door down, rather dramatically. "I've always wanted to do that... it's so much fun!"

"P-Please don't kick every door down," frowned Aurora. "We want to keep some element of surprise, at least... Natsumi, do you sense Akoto anywhere?"

Natsumi sniffed the air for a moment before replying. "Um... I'm not sensing anything different, but... I can tell you where the Master Shadow is..."

The group nodded at each other and headed upstairs, towards the Master Shadow. Hopefully, Akoto would be somewhere nearby... 

——

Teiko Kagami pulled over at the side of the empty street. Juichi was already waiting for her, tapping his foot impatiently. Even if it was Teiko, he couldn't hide how impatient he was. 

"Sorry, sorry," Teiko sighed as she stepped out of the car. "You know how Monty gets when I have a hospital appointment..." she tugged her puffy shirt down desperately, although it kept getting stuck on something. 

Juichi could see how stressed she was getting and tried to get her attention. "Um. Thanks for coming. This is super important!" He told her, trying to avoid looking at her stomach. "I was following one of the suspects - Ebizo - and it led me to this place. Apparently, it's been abandoned for a while now..."

"It certainly looks to be in the middle of nowhere," Teiko commented, her eyes settling on the crater in front of them. "Is there... supposed to be something there? Why have you taken me to a landfill site?"

"That's just it!" Juichi grinned, pulling out his phone. "I've got images of what this place looked like before - a house should be there! So, it begs the question - where did the house go?"

Teiko leant against her car's bonnet and tried to make sense of this. "Right... um... so what this got to do with Shinsui's death...?"

"Like I said, I followed Ebizo here," Juichi continued, "When I arrived, Ebizo and the house was gone! All that's here is a car belonging to some third year."

"I don't think this is entirely related to the murder, Juichi," Teiko frowned heavily. "Remember, we can't just snoop into Ebizo's life if he's been cleared-"

"You don't find this weird at all?!" Juichi cried, stomping his foot onto the ground. "Buildings disappearing... rain in such a small area... look, you can see evidence of rain, but it's only in the crater! Something fishy is going on here..."

Teiko slowly sat back down in her car, holding her stomach. She winced in pain as she did so. "I... if you're suggesting that we need to stay here for a bit, I think I'll take a nap... I'm sorry," she told him, "I get tired easily nowadays... I try to not let Monty and the others see me like this, as they'll just use it as an excuse to get me to stay at my desk..."

Juichi felt a pang of guilt. Teiko was the only one who would believe him, yes, but she wasn't at her best right now. The resentment he held against her husband was at its peak. "It's alright... I'll keep watch, and you can take a nap in the car," he smiled. "If you need anything... or need me to call a doctor-"

"It's not that bad, Juichi!" Teiko chuckled. "I just get backaches because of my... my shirt can barely hide my stomach now. My only other option is to wear oversized clothing, but it's summer! I can't exactly.... no. I shouldn't be ranting to you."

"You can rant to me," Juichi hopped in to the seat next to her. "I don't mind. I mean, we could be waiting for a while... and I know your stupid - um, Mr. Kagami doesn't let you rant about it."

"I don't want to be sitting at home all day! I know they're just waiting for me to take a year's leave or something," Teiko rolled her eyes. "Monty's excited - about his month off, that is. He can be so patronising!"

"Is the... is the baby... all good, then?" Juichi said awkwardly. He wasn't sure how to approach topics like this. "I mean... you did have a hospital appointment, right?"

"Yes... it'll be a girl, apparently," she told him, "I... I know that Monty wanted a boy. But I don't think he minds that much, considering he's got it drilled into his head that we'll have more than one. I suppose I should start thinking of names."

"I... I can think of one," Juichi looked out of the window in memory. "But... it's a bit... it's your baby, so you should name it. Not me. Besides, I don't think Mr. Kagami would like my input."

"He is... too harsh on you, yes," Teiko agreed, "They all are. You have such a brilliant mind, and they dismiss you because of your age. I... know how that feels, Juichi. You mustn't let that get in your way. They'll be laughing when we solve this case before them, right?"

"Right! With all of the research I'm doing, we'll catch Ebizo - um, I mean, the murderer - for sure!" He exclaimed, "Detective Niikura might make it hard for us, but I won't let that stop me... justice comes before family! He should know that!"

"Yes, well... innocent until proven guilty, remember?" Teiko reminded him, "Besides, we don't even know if this crater thing is related... ah, well. I suppose we'll see if anything happens. But I have to get back before it gets dark, okay? So should you."

"I... I'm sure my parents won't mind if it's for work reasons," shrugged Juichi. "It won't take that long for something to happen... will it?"


	19. Threads of Fate

Inside of the Pink Palace (named due to a sign Chieko saw on the way in) was just as confusing as the outside. The furniture and walls were blindingly bright - annoyingly so. Ebizo never wanted to get out of a place so badly. If he spent too long in here, he might go insane. 

"So this is based on Akoto's ideal home, huh?" Aurora grunted as she took out a nearby shadow. "It... it reminds me of a child's vision. Bright colours and nonsensical things. Like Koichi."

"Hey! My home is perfectly fine as it is!" Koichi cried, letting loose an arrow. "But you are right... it reminds me of something out of a children's book. I guess that's why Akoto and I get along so much - we're children at heart."

"I hope we don't meet an idolised version of her parents... although, that would be a fair guess as to what the Master Shadow is." Ebizo pointed out, "Her parents passed away, right? She lives on her own or something..."

"I heard that the school gives her hella cash because of it," Chieko hissed, "How else is she supposed to live on her own? I'm surprised she wasn't sent to an orphanage, though."

"Well, she's old enough to take care of herself. I'm sure her parents left her some money, too," said Aurora, "She's always kept to herself to some extent, though. I remember hearing about her father and Luethea, but that's about it."

"Let's just aim to get her out of here as soon as possible," Ebizo commanded, "She might want to stay here. We can't let that happen again, not after..."

"That won't happen, Ebizo." Aurora smiled at him, slipping her hand into his. "We'll save Akoto. We always do."

Natsumi pointed to a door at the end of the hallway. "Psst. The Master Shadow is in here... now that I'm closer to it, it bothers me even more." She pouted. "I don't hear or smell any screams or anything. Akoto is definitely in there, too."

"They might have her tied up, like they did with me," Koichi suggested, "That's probably why you don't hear any screams. I'm sure Akoto would scream if she could."

Ebizo nodded at the others, before turning to Chieko. "I trust you to kick down this door. You, uh... seem to have a knack for that sort of thing. I'm a little scared, to be honest - I've never seen someone so excited about kicking down doors."

"It's the best! I never got to do this before!" Squealed Chieko excitedly as she positioned herself in front of the door. "Okay, deep breath... HEE-YA!"

The door flew across the room, thanks to how hard Chieko had kicked it. The occupants inside all turned to the door frame to see the gang rushing in, weapons out. Ebizo and Chieko took the front, whereas Aurora, Koichi and Natsumi hung back. 

They were expecting a large, nasty-looking shadow. Instead, they got two normal-looking humans. A man and a woman. They didn't seem like a threat to them - in fact, the two 'shadows' just stared back at them in shock. 

Akoto was sitting next to them, a blanket over her. "Oh. Hi, guys! You can put your weapons away - it's only my mom and dad." she said.

"Akoto!" Aurora gasped, rushing over to the girl. "What's going... Natsumi said she could sense a Master Shadow in this room! That's why we were so worried... are you hurt?!"

"Uh, no? Why would my parents hurt me?" Akoto chuckled nervously. "You guys are weird. Anyway - meet my parents. My dad was a researcher for this place, remember? Well... turns out they didn't die. They just got trapped in here!"

"It's a miracle that we were able to reach Akoto again," Akoto's father smiled happily. "She was telling us about you. She never really had any friends before you lot..."

"That's right!" Her mother chirped, "It's amazing that we can see her again! We were so worried about her, too."

"No... that doesn't smell right." Natsumi frowned. "I definitely smelt a Master Shadow in here... yet all we find is some lanky dude in glasses and a woman with a ridiculous updo? Maybe my nose isn't as powerful as I once thought..."

"Run another, uh, scan, Natsumi," Ebizo demanded, still cautious, "Perhaps the shadow is simply hiding. We should all be careful."

"What happened to you, Akoto? We got separated!" Koichi cried as he ran to Akoto's side. 

Akoto shrugged in response. "I, uh, don't remember much. I just woke up and my parents were here. We've been talking ever since." she said.

"Something's definitely up," Chieko declared, her face in a pout. "Natsumi, sniff every part of this room. Including the people in it. Including us."

Natsumi nodded and began to sniff every corner of the room. Chieko tried her best not to chuckle at the sight. A weird mix of a humanoid and a rabbit shadow, sniffing everyone in the room. It was like having a sniffer dog on the team.

When she got to Akoto's parents, she stopped. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Her curious gaze turned into a glare. "You don't smell right... you don't smell human. Who are you, really?" she mumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Akoto tilted her head. "They probably smell weird because they've been here for so long... isn't that right, dad?"

"Well, yes," her father agreed, "Anyone that spends an unprecedented long time in Luethea is bound to, uh, smell like it."

"Shadows can disguise themselves. We've seen it before," Ebizo warned her, "Even our Personas can talk. Maybe..."

"They're my parents!" Akoto cried, jumping up out of her seat. "I know what my parents look like! What... what they sound like... and this is them, in the flesh!"

"Hold on. Natsumi, you said there was a Master Shadow in here, right?" Chieko said, aiming her bat towards Akoto's parents. "Is it possible that you could've meant these two? Or maybe one of them?"

"Stop that!" Akoto stood in front of her parents protectively. "They're my parents! I know they are! You can't attack them!"

"You have to believe me... if there's anything in this room that's a Master Shadow, it's them!" Natsumi pointed to Akoto's parents dramatically. "No human can survive in Luethea for an extended period of time. They wouldn't be... you know, like that one guy."

Chieko blinked. "Huh? What guy?"

"N-Never mind," Ebizo pointed his katana at them, eager to move on from the subject of Shinsui. "She's right, though - there's no way you two would still be alive. You must be shadows!"

Akoto's mother and father turned to each other. Perhaps they were thinking. Thinking of a way out of this situation. 

"You can't be.." Akoto mumbled, glancing at them. "Mom? Dad? Are you-"

There was a mighty roar and a flash of lightning. Akoto's parents exploded into a pile of gunk and reformed into a spider with two humanoid bodies on top. One was of a pumpkin-shaped man, with the glasses of Akoto's father. The other was a thin, bone-crushing woman with hair like Akoto's mother. 

"We are Tsuchigumo, the Master Shadow of this house." the shadow spoke, their words being said by the voices of Akoto's mother and father. It was as if two people were talking at once. "We will protect our darling Akoto... as such, your lives will not be allowed to continue."

Their Personas - Tsuki-Yomi, Lilith, Pan and Brigit - all stood in front of their users protectively. Tsuki-Yomi growled at the spider shadow. Lilith sharpened her nails. Pan tossed a dagger between his hands playfully. Brigit held Aurora close. 

"What... what on... who are they?" Akoto stared at the Personas with wide eyes, her eyes wet with tears. "I... I don't understand anymore... mom... dad..."

"They were pretending to be your parents to get close to you. Don't you see?" Natsumi hissed at the girl. "They were trying to lure you to your death by keeping you here... I'm sorry."

“Akoto, get behind Brigit and me.” Aurora held her arms out to the girl. “They’re going to start attacking, and we’ll keep you safe, okay?”

Akoto darted behind Aurora and stared at Tsuchigomo. Natsumi was next to her, offering a sweet thumbs-up. 

“Looks like it’ll rely on dark and despair attacks,” Natsumi said as she analysed the shadow behind the safety of Aurora. “So it’ll likely be resistant to those. Um... I can’t smell anything else...”

Chieko tilted her head. “Sorry. Um. What does despair do?” She asked.

“It basically means you’re unable to take any actions... because you’ll feel a soul-crushing despair! Like, you’ll wanna get hit and stuff!” Natsumi chirped. “So, uh, good luck.”

“Ugh. Let’s just get this over with. Tsuki-Yomi, Giant Slice!” Ebizo cried, Tsuki-Yomi clawing Tsuchigomo. It only did a little damage, though.

“Ha! Too bad, Ebizo!” Chieko taunted him, “Psio!” Lilith did significantly more damage than Tsuki-Yomi’s physical skill. They still hadn’t managed to hit a weakness, though. 

Tsuchigomo readied an attack towards Koichi. “Eigaon,” they commanded, bringing down a dark attack on them.

Koichi fell flat on his feet. “Ouch... um, guys? I don’t think I can take another one of those... I need a moment to rest before I can attack again.” 

“Don’t worry, Koichi. I’ll get you all healed up!” Aurora grinned. “Brigit - Diarama! Keep Koichi all healed up!”

“Um. Not to worry anyone, but that thing can attack twice before we can attack again,” Natsumi chuckled nervously. “Looks like knocking Koichi down powers it up a little...”

“Abysmal Surge!” Tsuchigomo cried, casting a despair skill towards all of the Persona users. 

Ebizo, Aurora and Chieko were all hit. Koichi managed to avoid the despair - somehow. Aurora protected Natsumi and Akoto from getting hit, but at the cost of herself.

Ebizo sunk to the floor and hugged himself. “I... this is the worst feeling I’ve ever experienced. Is this what depression feels like?” He mumbled. “I... I just wanna sit here...”

“Me, too...” Chieko complained, “I feel like I’ve just overworked myself. All I wanna do is watch TV. Why are we fighting...?”

“Akoto... get out of here while you still can,” Aurora warned her, “Natsumi, get her out of here... please... we’ll handle it when we can be bothered to get up...”

Akoto looked at her friends with wide eyes. “I-I... no, I...” she glanced down at the floor to see a black pocket mirror. Curious, she picked it up, only to see a woman in a funeral dress behind her in the mirror. 

_“This sadness is overwhelming... let’s cut this thread of despair for good. We’ll dispose of these false parents in the process and protect your friends!”_ A voice whispered in her ear. 

“Break the mirror,” Natsumi hissed at her. “Come on. Do it! That’s how everyone else got their Personas! You could help them!”

“Help them?” Akoto repeated. She looked back to the mirror. “I... yes. I want to... I want to help my friends. Persona - Atropos!”

_“I am thou, thou art I... for I am Atropos, bringer of fate. We will cut the thread tying us all down in this world. Let’s end this!”_

Atropos appeared in front of Brigit, sending out a burst of power throughout the room. The despair inflicting most of the group was cured, and they stood up to take a look at the new Persona joining them.

“Oh, no, wait. Isn’t she one of the baddies in Hercules?” Aurora frowned. “She looks a little different, though... I thought she was a witch, not a mourning widow.”

“Sh-! That’s not important!” Koichi hissed at her. “Akoto, that’s amazing! We could really use your help in this battle... maybe this time the battle can actually start without us getting knocked down...”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you guys!” Akoto smiled at her friends. “Atropos and I have got this covered. This thing isn’t my parents... I won’t let them disgrace their image!”


	20. Tower Arcana

Akoto readied an attack with Atropos by her side. "Let's blast them away - Freila!" She cried, casting a nuclear attack on Tsuchigomo. 

"I have an idea - why don't I poison it again?" Chieko suggested, "It's not like Koichi can do anything whilst he's getting attacked."

"That's a good idea... I think I'll stay on guard so I can at least stay on my feet." Koichi chuckled nervously. He wasn't enjoying this.

“You heard him, Lilith - poison time!” Chieko grinned. “Poisma... oh, it’s going to be so embarrassing if I miss...”

Luckily, she didn’t. Tsuchigomo was inflicted with poison - but it only made them madder. “Vajra Blast... I’ll hit all of you pests!” It commanded, causing physical damage to the entire party.

Ebizo grunted as he was hit. “Right, that’s enough,” he snarled, “Agilao! I’m gonna burn this spider off the face of the... whatever this place is!”

The fire skill managed to flip the spider on its back - a critical hit. Unable to attack, Tsuchigomo was now vulnerable to group attack.

“Alright, everybody!” Aurora raised her knives up in the air. “It’s time for an all-out attack! Let’s blast it into next week!”

Ebizo, Aurora, Koichi, Chieko and Akoto all ran towards Tsuchigomo with their melee weapons ready. With their willpower combined, Tsuchigomo was weaker than ever. 

As Akoto sliced Tsuchigomo with her scissors, the shadow began to disintegrate. It crumbled into dust, the two heads screaming until they could scream no more. 

“W... Wow! That was so cool!” Akoto grinned as she pointed at what remained of Tsuchigomo. “Does that happen every time?!”

“Y-Yes, but you guys should get out of here!” Natsumi warned as they felt the room rock. “With the Master Shadow gone, this place will collapse... don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine!”

“We couldn’t have done this without you, Natsumi,” Ebizo said, patting Natsumi on the back. “Take care of yourself... and try to find out why this is happening or something...”

“I will!” Natsumi grinned, forming a mirror in front of the group. “You guys have fun... don’t forget about me, okay?”

She watched as the group walked through the mirror. The Pink Palace evaporated, restoring Luethea to the destroyed wasteland it was before. Her master was waiting for her.

“That boy... what is he?” Her master stepped forward and watched the mirror vanish. “His mere presence disrupts everything. Why is he always there when something happens?”

“Maybe he’s a prophet,” Natsumi unhelpfully suggested, “Doesn’t Earth have those? They always go on about them in legends.”

“No. He just got lucky,” her master insisted, “One day he won’t be so lucky. I’ll be waiting for that day... I’ll get rid of the other pests whilst I’m at it.”

——

Ebizo opened the front door to Akoto’s home mid-laugh, when he was greeted with the sight of Teiko and Juichi. They were both standing with their arms crossed, looking both confused and angry.

“Hah! Caught you now, Niikura!” Juichi declared, pointing at Ebizo dramatically. “Care to explain to my superior here what you were up to, and why a house just appeared out of nowhere?!”

“You... you saw that?” Ebizo blinked at them. “Um... who are you? You don’t have any uniform... are you police?”

“Police?!” Koichi gasped and his behind Ebizo. “Oh, no! Are we in trouble? I can’t get into trouble! My parents will kill me!”

“Teiko Kagami, Interpol,” Teiko flashed her ID and turned to Juichi. “Detective Rakuyama here is working with the police on the Shinsui case... although... I fail to see how this house business is connected, though...”

“Exactly! Is it a crime for a house to randomly appear?” Aurora pointed out, “You can’t arrest us. We haven’t committed any crimes.”

“But... but... you just made a house appear out of nowhere!” Juichi cried, “Teiko, surely we can do something...!”

“It is very... extraordinary...” Teiko admitted, “But we can’t do anything right now. Why don’t we head back?”

Juichi glanced towards Ebizo, then back to Teiko. He stuttered for a few moments before admitting defeat. Muttering something under his breath, he stormed off, heading to the car behind them.

“I can’t say I won’t be investigating this... event, though,” Teiko warned them, taking a step backwards to admire the house for herself. “He was right. It’s not normal. I doubt anyone would believe us, but...” she sighed and walked back to her car. 

“Ooh, she’s pregnant! How cute!” Chieko chirped in the back, “Uh, can we get going, though? I wanna fill up my car on the way back. And I have to get back before my family eats, otherwise I won’t get any. I’m already over my card limit!”

“O-Okay. I guess I’ll see you guys at school,” Akoto waved at the group as they filled out of her house. “Hopefully next time we’ll be able to do something more normal... like hang out and not have to battle any weird spiders.”

She shut the door as Koichi hopped outside. All that fighting had drained her completely. She was just going past her living room when the still-on TV blasted sound into her ears.

_“Torchwood: outside the government, beyond the police. Tracking down alien life on Earth, arming the human race against the future. The twenty-first century is when everything changes. And yo-”_

“Yeah, right,” Akoto scoffed as she turned off the TV. “Aliens in Jansaai? I think they’d rather pick a place like Tokyo or New York...”

——

Ebizo threw his bag down next to his chair the next morning. His father had driven him to school - only because Juichi had said something about a ‘disappearing house’. Of course, Taijo didn’t take it seriously, and instead told Ebizo to stay out of the way of Juichi. Easier said than done.

“Are you alright, Ebizo?” Koichi asked him, “It’s okay. Mr. Haraki isn’t here yet. He’s running late again. Third time this week! He’s making a habit of it!”

“Yeah, but he’s always late,” Akoto rolled her eyes. “He seems so tired for someone who’s so late. You’d think he’s just oversleeping or something... maybe that’s why he’s late. Because he stays up and then struggles to get up in the morning.”

“You guys should leave him alone,” Perrie warned them, turning round in their chair. “You don’t know anything about his personal life. He might be going through something.”

“Mm... Perrie’s right,” Koichi agreed, “We should stop gossiping. Honestly, we’re getting as bad as Chieko!”

Mr. Haraki walked in moments later, tripping over himself as he stumbled into his desk. “S-Sorry I’m late!” He chuckled nervously. “Right, um... what were we doing again?”

The back of Ebizo’s mind was nagging him. Something was up with his teacher, and he had to get to the bottom of it. For his teacher’s sake, of course.

So, during lunch, he paid a visit to Mr. Haraki. Unlike the other teachers, he insisted on being alone in an empty classroom instead of working in the staff room. When Ebizo peeked into the window, he saw that Mr. Haraki was sleeping at the desk. 

He knocked a few times to get his teachers attention. Mr. Haraki jolted upright and gestured for Ebizo to enter. He did so.

“What can I help you with, Ebizo?” Mr. Haraki asked him. “If this is about your future aspirations, there’s a lady coming in next week-”

“No, it’s not about me,” Ebizo quickly said, sitting down on the chair opposite. “It, uh, well... it’s about you, sir. We’re all concerned about you. You’re not exactly in the best of shapes right now, with you running late all of the time and all.”

“Oh! Me?” He chuckled. “I’m fine, fine. You really shouldn’t be worrying so much about someone like me... is me being late to class sometimes really that worrying?”

“It’s not just that... you’re coming in all tired, too. Like you’re getting no sleep,” Ebizo pointed out, “Is everything alright... you know... with your... uh...”

“You... you overheard the other staff talking about it, didn’t you?” Mr. Haraki sighed. “I knew they’d gossip about me... look, I’m getting a divorce, yes, but that doesn’t mean-”

Ebizo’s mouth fell open. “Y-You’re getting divorced?” He repeated.

“I... Mmph... yeah, I am,” Mr. Haraki buried his face in his hands. “I still wear the ring because it’s not ‘official’, but we’ve been living in separate houses. My daughter... I think she’s taking it harder than any of us. Her grades have been slipping, and her teachers are getting concerned.”

“Well... your parents getting separated is a pretty big life adjustment,” Ebizo told him, “Especially if she’s a kid. No wonder why her grades are slipping and stuff.”

“Yes, but... but... with the divorce proceedings...” Mr. Haraki got out of his chair and began to pace about the room. “I-I don’t know how much of the custody I’ll get... they usually favour the mothers, don’t they? There’s no way they’ll let me to see her as often as I’d like!”

“Th-That’s what you’ve been worrying about?” He blinked at him. “They’ll still let you see her... it’s not like they’ll ban you from seeing her. You’re obviously not... y-you know. Bad.”

“B-But I won’t be able to take care of her!” Mr. Haraki cried, “Sure, maybe one weekend every fortnight... but what about... who’s going to read her stories before she goes to sleep? What if I want to cook her food whilst she watches in excitement? Life would seem... so empty without her...”

Ebizo leaned back in his chair. “It... it’ll be okay. You’re a teacher, right? They might allow you to have her on the weekdays,” he suggested, “Since your hours might work around school. Don’t give up hope yet... what’s your daughters name?”

“Sayuri... Sayuri’s her name,” Mr. Haraki smiled at the thought. “I chose it. Isn’t it pretty?”

“Sounds like she’s a daddy’s girl,” Ebizo smirked. “Hey, she might even talk about wanting to see you more often. You might even get split custody. Wouldn’t that be better than nothing,?”

“Split custody is all I can hope for, hmm? It does sound fairer than shoving all of the work onto her mother,” he agreed, “Oh, uh... n-not like I’d like want anything bad to her. The ex.”

“I’m, uh... sure you won’t. Look, you should be fine. I’m sure of it. You know you can talk to people about this. You shouldn’t keep it bottled up. It’s not good for you.”

“I... it does feel good to talk about it, yes,” Mr. Haraki admitted, “Maybe you’re right. I should talk to other people about this. Maybe I should sit down with my daughter and talk about everything that’s going on, too...”

“I know I’d be worried about stuff like that,” Ebizo replied, “You really should sit down with her and talk about it. She deserves that, at least. Maybe get her mother to talk to her as well... maybe in the same room? For Sayuri’s benefit.”

“Alright, you’ve convinced me. I’ll sit down with Sayuri and talk this out with her.” Mr. Haraki sat back down in his chair, calmer than before. “Can’t have you worrying, too... uh, don’t tell anyone about this, you hear?”

“I won’t! I promise,” he smiled at him. A tarot card was forming above his head - like the others. The tower arcana. Wait, wasn’t that one of the worst ones or something?

“Good kid. You run along, now,” Mr. Haraki told him, “I promise I’ll try and get some sleep, too... and try to stop worrying about all of this... even if that seems a bit impossible right now.”

Ebizo stood up and left the room, waving goodbye to his teacher. Another day, another tarot card. What could it all mean? Was there a point to collecting all of the cards? What would happen if he collected the whole set?

Perhaps he should ask Henry next time he saw him.


	21. Fortune Arcana

Ebizo was about to leave the house to have ice cream with Akoto, before Suzue stopped him in his tracks. Tasuku was holding her hand loosely.

"Why don't you take your brother with you?" She suggested, "Tasuku wants some ice cream... don't you, sweetie?"

Tasuku nodded excitedly. "Ice cream! I want chocolate! We only have vanilla here... plus, mommy can't take me to the park because she has to wait for a parcel."

"Oh, yes! The park!" Suzue chirped, "You can take your friend and Tasuku there! You can sit down and talk whilst Tasuku goes on the swings."

Ebizo sighed and grabbed Tasuku's hand. "Okay, but no running off. Stay in my line of sight," he told his brother, "I... don't think Akoto has actually interacted with children before, so ignore her if she says anything weird."

Tasuku nodded and pulled Ebizo out of the door. "We have to get there early before all of the good ice cream sells out!" He cried.

He then proceeded to pull Ebizo along for the rest of the way, muttering something about collectible toys and several different flavours of ice cream. Normal child things. 

Akoto was sitting on a bench and frowned upon seeing Tasuku. "Oh. You didn't... you didn't tell me that you were bringing... small child," she pouted. "Sorry. I'm not very good with children..."

"He's just here for the ice cream," Ebizo gestured to the stand near them. "He'll play on the playground after that. Don't worry. What flavour did you want?"

She stared at the ice cream stand behind them. "Mm. Raspberry. It says they get them from nearby. That means it's good, right?" 

Ebizo shrugged his shoulders and got the ice creams for the three of them. Tasuku took his and ran off, stuffing his mouth with it. It was a good thing he had been given a tissue to use. 

The two teenagers sat down on the park bench and watched Tasuku gobble down the last few pieces of his ice cream. Akoto shifted awkwardly in her seat. She was the one to set up this meeting, yet she hadn't had the faintest clue of what to talk about.

Luckily, Ebizo was there to break the ice. "I have to ask - how does a teenager get away with living on her own?" He asked her, "I mean... what about the government? How do you get money?"

"Oh! Um... wow, big question, starting out strong," she chuckled. "My parents left me with a sizeable inheritance. The house was already paid off. Um... I like to think I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"You're still a minor, by a year, at least," Ebizo reminded her, "You still should have someone checking up on you..."

"No...? I mean, school asks, sure, but I'm fine. Really," Akoto assured him, "You worry too much... I don't eat a lot, anyway. Never have."

"Well... you're always welcome to come visit," he smiled at her. "My family will always add an extra chair. I know my mom will be excited to meet one of my friends..."

"You act like I can't feed myself!" Akoto rolled her eyes. "Is that why you got me ice cream? You're worried about me, aren't you? That’s so sweet... I’d better not tell Aurora. She might get jealous.”

"I didn't see you in the first year. Koichi said you transferred at the start of this year. You weren't there for the first year - I should know that," Ebizo glanced away for a second. "Did you go to a school outside of Jansaai? There's only one high school here..."

"Uh... yeah, I must've," Akoto mumbled, "I read every book I could to prepare. The library lady knows me pretty well! You should see all the books I have in my house. I have a room full of them. I, uh... didn't have many friends until I met you and Koichi."

"Your best friend, I know," said Ebizo, "You two walk to school together. All of the time. Do they meet you here, or...?"

"Oh, I meet Koichi and his parents at their house! They're soooo sweet," she giggled. "When they found out I was walking to school alone, they offered to accompany me for half of the journey. They're super sweet like that."

They sat in silence as they watched Tasuku try to climb up a ladder. The ladder was wet from the night before. Tasuku reached for the top, but his hand slipped. He fell off the ladder and landed at the bottom, bursting into tears.

Ebizo jumped up out of his seat. "Tasuku! Are you alright?!" He cried, squatting down next to Tasuku. "Oh, did you scrape your leg? Uh, Akoto - can you get me some plasters out of my bag?"

Akoto dug around in Ebizo's bag and pulled out a packet of plasters. She jogged over to Ebizo and handed him the plasters. "Uh, what's all that stuff?" She asked, "Is he gonna be okay?"

"It's just a little blood. He'll be fine," Ebizo assured them both, "Won't you, Tasuku? It's just a little scrape. It might sting a bit..."

Tasuku whimpered as Ebizo cleaned his scraped knee. He stuck the plaster over his wound and patted it. 

"Th-Thank you, Ebizo..." Tasuku mumbled, "Can we... can we go home now? I wanna see mommy... and I’m getting pretty hungry. That ice cream wasn’t enough.”

Ebizo helped Tasuku up and turned to Akoto. "Uh, sorry... it was nice talking to you, though. I'll see you at school, Akoto."

Akoto smiled at the two and patted Tasuku awkwardly. A tarot card was forming above her head - the fortune arcana. Fortune was something Akoto had, material wise, sure. Ebizo didn't know enough about tarot cards to make a proper judgement.

——

Suzue rushed over to Tasuku upon seeing his injury the moment the two of them walked through the door. "Oh, sweetie! Did you fall over? Come sit down, I'll get you a drink..." she said.

Ebizo followed Tasuku into the kitchen. His mouth fell open. "Dad?"

Taijo was standing over the sink, stirring a bowl of ingredients. He was out of his uniform - he must've been home for a while to justify getting changed. If he came home late, he'd usually stay in his uniform until he went to bed.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise for you," Suzue chirped as she pulled up a seat for Tasuku. "He managed to get half the day off. Apparently, some Interpol lady is taking care of things for him. Isn't she so sweet?"

"She mentioned you, Ebizo... Mrs. Kagami," Taijo told him, "Said she ran into you and your friends. I hope you're not getting into trouble..."

"We ran into her when she was doing some investigating, that's all," Ebizo explained, "You know me. Staying out of trouble."

"Daddy! I got hurt today!" Tasuku chanted, eager to take the attention away from Ebizo. "I could've died!"

Taijo put the bowl down and ruffled Tasuku's hair. "I told you to be careful if you're going on the playground after it's been raining. Good thing your brother was there to keep an eye on you..."

Suzue wrapped her arms around Taijo and grinned. "Look at us! We're all together again! Kinuya is up in her room, but still... once your father has cooked dinner, she'll join us."

Taijo blushed and kissed Suzue's cheek. "Relax... I know I've been working a lot lately, and I'm sorry. I want to make it up for you," he announced, "I was thinking... we could go to the beach sometime soon. It's almost July. They're almost off school soon, and it's getting far too hot to walk around in my uniform."

Summer holiday. Ebizo almost forgot about that. He had been so wrapped up in Luethea and Personas that he hadn't put any thought into it. Perhaps he should message his friends and see what they should do...

"Ooh, if we're going to the beach, I'll need to get Tasuku some swim shorts," Suzue mumbled, "He's grown out of his last one, and he insists he's too old for ducks..."

"I am," Tasuku rolled his eyes. "Why can’t I have a plain one like daddy? I’m just as grown up as he is. He said so when we were playing catch yesterday.”

“Hey, I still have a pattern on my swim shorts!” Ebizo argued, “You can still have a pattern on them, even if you’re... older. Don’t be in such a rush to grow up.”

“Then why doesn’t daddy have a pattern on his?” Tasuku sat back with a grin. “It’s because he’s a grown up, duh. All grown ups are like that.”

Taijo, eager to diffuse the situation, handed Tasuku the bowl full of food. “Here, you can help me make the curry for tonight... like an adult,” he suggested. 

Ebizo chuckled to himself and headed upstairs. This was an accident waiting to happen.

——

When he went to sleep, he woke up in the Velvet Room. This startled him; he almost crashed into Igor’s desk in a daze, much to Henry’s amusement.

“I heard you wanted to talk to me,” Henry said with a grin, “Something about your bonds, yes? You humans are so easily confused...”

“Oh, yeah... the tarot card thing is kinda weird. Is that your doing?” Ebizo asked him, “Bonds... you must be talking about making friends.”

“My siblings would word such a thing better, I’ll admit,” Henry sighed. “I’m not very good with fancy wording. But, to put it into human terms, they represent strength. The more bonds you make, the more powerful you and your Persona shall be.”

“So... make friends to get stronger?” Ebizo nodded to himself. “Seems simple enough... the more teammates I get, the more friends I get...”

“Mm... also... a warning,” Henry’s gaze grew serious. “Specifically, from my sister... she’s been reading the cards - something she claims is part of my job - and says that these events are only going to get worse. Bigger and more chaotic. Who knows what’ll happen to your little town?”

Henry could see that Ebizo wasn’t taking the news too well. “Uh, but don’t panic... say, why don’t you consider going away for a bit? I hear Kyoto is nice this time of year,” he smiled. 

Ebizo noticed something in Henry’s pocket. A card was poking out. “Doomsday aside, what’s that you got there?” He gestured to Henry’s pocket. “I thought you didn’t go outside that much.”

“Ah, well... you know... nothing too big,” Henry pulled out five concert tickets from his pocket. “Like I said, Kyoto is nice this time of year. A day out, perhaps?”

He took the tickets from Henry and examined them curiously. A concert in Kyoto. The headlining act was Alice, the singer that Chieko had been raving about. 

“Why Alice?” Ebizo immediately asked, “Is this a hint or something?”

“Whaaaat? You know I can’t directly impact your journey!” Henry glanced towards Igor. “I just thought... well, since your friends like her so much...”

“Yes, but, Kyoto? How are we supposed to get there? This thing ends at like, ten! The trains back to Jansaai stop at ten! There’s no way we’ll-”

Henry placed a finger on Ebizo’s mouth, shutting him up. “Sh! You have a friend that can drive, right? Just get her to drive you there and back.”

“It’s like, ages away! You can’t expect her to drive us back so late!” Ebizo continued to argue, “We’ll get back at like, midnight! And do you know how expensive hotels are in Kyoto? Especially for five students? My parents would be worried sick!”

“Ugh, you know what? I don’t have to deal with all of your arguing. You’d be making my little sister cry right now.” Henry pouted. “Right. Wake up!”

Henry snapped his fingers, and Ebizo woke up in a cold sweat. In his bed. At home. Nothing blue in sight. 

His right hand was clutching five tickets for an Alice concert in Kyoto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> been playing persona 5 strikers, which definitely won’t reflect on the next update


End file.
